Multiple environmental violations at Kirkenes Airport

Norway has eased restrictions that previously prevented allied surveillance aircraft from tracking Russian nuclear submarines operating out of bases on the Kola Peninsula, reports the Barents Observer.

The change means that allies can now operate closer to Norwegian areas than before, provided the missions are coordinated with Norwegian authorities.

The adjustment comes in response to an increased allied need for situational awareness in the Barents Sea and a more challenging security environment in the High North.

Norwegian authorities emphasize that operations will remain controlled and predictable.

Eirik Wikan will take over as acting CEO of the Kimek companies, which are engaged in ship repair and industrial services in Kirkenes, Northern Norway. Kimek AS announces this on its Facebook page.

Former CEO Greger Mannsverk is ill and will be absent from his position indefinitely.

Wikan comes from the position of finance manager at Kimek and has been part of the company's management for 18 years.

The finalists for Norway's Young Farmer of the Year 2026 are now ready, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food announced in a press release.

Ambjørg Skibdalen from Telemark, Joar Straume from Nordland and the farming couple Iselin Mentzoni Eliassen and Jørgen Juul Thomassen from Troms have been selected from over 500 nominees from across the country.

Joar Straume (22) moved from Western Norway to the Helgeland coast in Northern Norway to realize his dream of owning his own farm. He now runs Nordbostad Farm in Mindland in Nordland with his wife Elena.

In Troms, Northern Norway, Iselin Mentzoni Eliassen (27) and Jørgen Juul Thomassen (29) run Buktenes farm in Kvænangen. The farm is the municipality's last dairy farm.

The winner of Young Farmer of the Year 2026 will be announced during Dyrsku'n in Seljord on September 11th.

In 2025, 61 per cent of young people in Northern Norway between the ages of 15 and 22 had a summer job. This is almost 10 percentage points more than in 2015 and well above the national average of 53 percent, according to the Knowledge Bank in SpareBank 1 Northern Norway.

Furthermore, 44 per cent of young immigrants had summer jobs compared to 71 per cent of Norwegian-born with two Norwegian-born parents.

The proportion of young people with summer jobs also varies significantly between municipalities. Beiarn (85 percent) and Båtsfjord (79 percent) had the most young people with summer jobs while Nesna (39 percent) had the fewest.

Last week, Sweden's honorary consulate in Tromsø, Northern Norway, was reopened with Christian Hjort as the new honorary consul. Hjort has a background as director of the company JM Hansen Eiendom.

"The consulate in Tromsø strengthens Sweden's presence in a region with significant business interests, and helps create good conditions for cross-border cooperation between the countries, while improving service to Swedish citizens in Northern Norway," writes the Swedish embassy in Oslo.

"I look forward to taking on the consular tasks, and not least to helping strengthen the already strong ties between our two countries," states Hjort.

Dagmar Patricia Steffan is the new honorary consul of France in Kirkenes, Northern Norway.

She succeeds Gunnar Schaanning Kollstrøm who has assisted French people in Finnmark county since 2017.

Steffan has worked for 18 years as a neuropsychologist at the Finnmark hospital, and has served for the past year as a municipal psychologist in Kautokeino.

She assumed her position as honorary consul on Friday after a ceremony led by the French ambassador to Norway, Florence Robine.

On May 15, a Chinese citizen was arrested in Norway, suspected of attempted illegal intelligence activities against state secrets.

The man is alleged to have stayed in a bunker near the military section of the airport in Bodø, Northern Norway.

The accused was remanded in custody for four weeks.

TV 2 reports on Friday that the accused Chinese citizen is now being released.

"PST is releasing the Chinese citizen who was arrested in May 2026 and charged with attempted illegal intelligence activities against state secrets. The arrest occurred in connection with the accused taking up residence in a bunker near Bodø air station," police prosecutor Kathrine Tonstad in Norway's Police Security Service (PST) tells TV 2.

"The basis for suspicion against the accused is considered weakened through the investigation that has been carried out so far. The investigation will be completed and then forwarded from PST to the National Authority for Prosecution of Organised and other Serious Crime for a prosecutorial decision, Tonstad adds.

Will be arrested again

According to Tonstad, the Nordland Police District will now arrest the accused of violating the Immigration Act and prepare a case for deportation or expulsion from Norway.

PST adds that there is no information indicating that there is any connection between this case and the woman who was arrested on Andøya, suspected of complicity in an attempted act of serious intelligence activity against state secrets a few weeks ago, writes TV 2.

Statistics Norway (SSB) released population projections on Friday.

Continued population growth, strong population aging and a larger and more established immigrant population are the main findings from the national population projections.

According to the projection's main alternative, all counties, except Nordland, are expected to experience population growth up to 2050.

In the period between 2026 and 2050, a population decline of approximately 7,400 people is expected in Nordland, one of the three counties in Northern Norway.

In the other two counties, Troms and Finnmark, the population is expected to increase by approximately 4,700 and 1,200 people, respectively.

Finnmark County, Northern Norway, has decided to allocate NOK 5,548,000 for public health initiatives in the county in 2026. Of this, NOK 4,700,000 will go to the municipalities.

"In 2026, 12 municipalities in Finnmark will receive financial support and guidance for very important work within public health," says Raymond Robertsen (Conservative), head of the main committee for competence in the county.

The 12 municipalities are participating in a multi-year national program for the development of public health measures in the municipalities, with the goal of developing and testing measures aimed at children and young people. This is intended to contribute to making mental health an equal part of local public health work.

The British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales is arriving in Norway in connection with allied training activities, the Norwegian Armed Forces announces in a press release.

The Portsmouth-based aircraft carrier is being joined by two other vessels and is heading towards Norwegian waters. Together, the vessels will participate in exercises with NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) throughout the deployment, as a contribution to the collective defence of the region.

The force will operate, among other things, in the fjord areas outside Bergen, where exercises will be conducted.

The focus will then shift north towards operations in the High North and on the high seas, where the force will participate in NATO's largest anti-submarine exercise in Northern Europe, Dynamic Mongoose.

“The fact that an aircraft carrier like HMS Prince of Wales is training in Norwegian waters shows how important the High North is to our Allies. The UK and the Royal Navy are among those with whom we cooperate most closely,” says Vice Admiral Rune Andersen, Chief of the Norwegian Joint Headquarters. He adds that the exercises strengthen the ability to cooperate and make the British more familiar with the operational environment in the north.

In the first quarter of 2026, 60 companies in Northern Norway went bankrupt, which is the second lowest number in 20 years. The bankruptcy rate was only lower in the pandemic year of 2021, with significant support measures for the business sector. This is reported by the Knowledge Bank at SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge.

The decline is 9 percent compared to the first quarter of last year and comes after a drop in the bankruptcy rate of 25 percent in 2025. Three sectors stand out with the largest decline in the number of bankruptcies: the construction industry, retail trade, as well as accommodation and catering.

Every year, marine scientists map the distribution of the northeastern Arctic cod in the traditional spawning areas in Lofoten and Vesterålen, Northern Norway-

This year, the marine scientists observed slightly more Northeast Arctic cod (skrei) than last year, but at the same time report a modest result.

“Despite an increase compared to last year, the amount of skrei in the expedition area can only be described as very low,” says expedition leader Knut Korsbrekke in a press release.

The expedition in the area was carried out with the research vessel "Johan Hjort" in the period from March 25 to April 6.

The results from the expedition are one of several sources of knowledge about the Northeast Arctic cod. They are included in the researchers' population calculation and quota advice for the species.

Several road signs with Russian text in Sør-Varanger and Kirkenes may be removed, reports the Barents Observer.

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration will clarify the future of the signs, which have Cyrillic text.

The Russian street signs have caused a great deal of debate in Sør-Varanger in recent years.

"I expect the Norwegian Public Roads Administration to take action, and that the signs will be taken down fairly quickly", says Kurt Mørk Eriksen to NRK, who has been involved in getting the signs in the border municipality removed for a long time.

The signs were put up at the Norwegian-Russian border when traffic and cooperation with Russia were high. After Russia went to war in Ukraine in 2014, trade and cooperation have declined sharply.

In 2023, Norway tightened its sanctions regulations against Russia, and since then, Russian-registered passenger cars have not been allowed to cross the border.

This Wednesday evening, the German company Isar Aerospace will make a new attempt to launch the Spectrum rocket from Andøya Spaceport in Northern Norway.

The rocket will carry satellites of various types. If all goes according to plan, this could be the first satellite launch from mainland Europe.

According to Isar, the launch window will open at 9 PM CET at the earliest. The launch can be followed live here.

If weather conditions are not favorable, new attempts will be made until April 19th. Isar's first test flight with the Spectrum from Andøya last year ended with the rocket falling into the sea shortly after the launch.

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The Norwegian government considers recruitment to agriculture to be important for both self-sufficiency and total preparedness in Norway. It will now be easier to become a milk producer in the Arctic regions of Troms and Finnmark.

"The recruitment quota is intended to make it easier for new milk producers to establish themselves. The aim of the scheme is to strengthen recruitment and new establishment in milk production in the two northernmost counties", says Minister of Agriculture and Food Nils Kristen Sandtrøen.

The Directorate of Agriculture can offer to purchase quotas to applicants who plan to establish themselves as milk producers. Quotas can be used after an approved application and payment. The scheme is aimed at those who have not owned or rented quota in the last three years. Applicants who are 35 years of age or younger will be given priority, but anyone who meets the conditions can apply. The recruitment quota has been established as a follow-up to the 2025 agricultural settlement.

Briefly about the scheme:

The state offers up to four million liters of basic quota.

Price: One NOK per liter.

Up to 700,000 liters can be applied for per applicant.

The Norwegian coastal boats' seasonal cod (skrei) fishing reached a preliminary peak this year last week, reports Norges Råfisklag is a Norwegian sales organization.

During the week, about 6,600 tons were delivered at a value of NOK 438 million.

The Sales Association reports that fishing has also moved south along the coast, with increased deliveries in Troms, Vesterålen and Lofoten.

Several boats have also finished with this year's cod quota.

Bodø/Glimt is to meet the portuguese team Sporting in the Champions League Round of 16.

The Arctic football team from Bodø, Northern Norway, advanced in the Champions League after an aggregate result of 5-2 against Inter Milan.

The first game in the Round of 16 will be played at Aspmyra Stadium in Bodø on the 11th of March. The second match is to be played in Lisboa on March 17th.