When The Roar of Diesel Drowns Out The Hushed Voices From Svalbard and Finnmark

During the so-called political truce by the political parties in Norway in connection with King Harald’s funeral, Svalbard played a leading role in the news for a few days. A state-owned Russian ship was impounded in the Russian mining town of Barentsburg—an operation that was legally quite routine, yet geopolitically spectacular.

Strategic location

It was not about the situation of the residents of Longyearbyen, but it was nevertheless a useful reminder of Svalbard's very special position in Norwegian foreign and security policy.

This is something the residents of Svalbard have in common with the population of Eastern Finnmark in the Norwegian Arctic.

They both share a highly strategic location and a not insignificant geographical distance from political decision-makers. It is therefore hardly surprising that they look to one another in the search for solutions that will ensure stable settlement and predictable framework conditions for people and businesses.

In Finnmark, the Kirkenes Business Association, in collaboration with Orion, has assessed the impact of external influences over the past few years. The effects of the sanctions hit Kirkenes immediately following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Until then, the town had generated significant economic revenue through various forms of trade and cross-border cooperation with Russia.

Willingness to adapt

Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to further restrictions on trade and travel. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine tightened the grip even further. In addition, a sharp drop in fish quotas hit coastal communities hard.

It should also be noted that the Sydvaranger mine had gone bankrupt a few years earlier.

All of this is analyzed in the report from Orinor and the Kirkenes Business Association. The picture that emerges is one of a community with a strong drive for transformation, combined with a declining population and limited willingness to pursue—or belief in—private investment.

On Svalbard, too, the Local Council is concerned about the future. The average length of residence has fallen to 3.5 years, and 20 per cent of the population is replaced every year.

"We are losing expertise, continuity and people who could have taken on greater responsibility in the local community", Local Council Chair Terje Aunevik tells Svalbardposten.

In addition to sharing some of the same challenges, both Svalbard and Eastern Finnmark top the list of priority areas in successive governments' High North policies.

Military muscle

Setting military muscle aside for a moment, the population in these areas is the nation’s foremost security policy instrument.

In Svalbard, the local council believes that low taxes are no longer a sufficient measure to retain residents. They want some of the same schemes available in Finnmark and parts of Northern Troms, such as student loan write-offs, free kindergarten and after-school care, and resident discounts on flights. On the mainland, a maximum price for flights has been introduced.

Like Kirkenes, Longyearbyen has also lost the stabilising force of mining.

In Finnmark, where these schemes have been introduced, many have long desired the same tax level as on Svalbard as one of the measures.

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The fact that the tone is more subdued this time should not mislead national decision-makers into failing to take the warnings seriously. Few know where the shoe pinches better than the person wearing it.

Cultivating conflict

Then there is the matter of politics’ need to cultivate lines of conflict in order for things to happen.

In High North policy, where there is a high degree of agreement, little happens.

Regarding the issue of fuel taxes, it was the intensity of the political disagreement that forced a tax cut last time. It remains to be seen whether the same will happen this time.

In any case, it effectively shifts attention away from the major challenges facing development in the north.