politics
The Kirkenes Conference 2026:
Finnmark Mayors: ‘It Seems as if Realpolitik Is Dead’
Kirkenes (High North News): This week, the mayors of Finnmark, Northern Norway, welcomed the Conservative Party's leadership in Kirkenes. They had better hold onto their hats, because Finnmark politicians are thoroughly fed up with being overlooked by the capital. "Is it unreasonable to ask for critical infrastructure in Norway’s most important strategic priority area?" asks the mayor of Sør-Varanger.
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The government has designated Northern Norway as the most important strategic region to prioritize in defense and preparedness ever since our neighboring country Russia invaded Ukraine four years ago.
For the municipalities in Finnmark, at and near the border with Russia, local politics and geopolitics are merging. Yet, no critical infrastructure is under construction.
While schools and health services are to be operated, the municipalities must also prepare for war and crisis, serve as a transit country for NATO, and, in the most extreme case, defend Norway's eastern border.
Geo- and local politics
Has geopolitics taken over from local politics in Hammerfest municipality?
"I would not say it has taken over, but it has become a very large part of it," says Terje Rogde (Conservative Party), Mayor of Hammerfest municipality.
It does not seem as though Norway understands the role we play
In what way?
"There has been greater interest in geopolitics after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Hammerfest has become a major supplier of energy to Europe. As a result, there is more focus on us, which affects local politics. It is also more about preparedness and security now," says Rogde, who has been mayor of Hammerfest for three years, and took office one year after Putin attacked Ukraine.
Feeling the pressure
Together with the mayors of Sør-Varanger and Berlevåg, Rogde took part in a debate ahead of the Kirkenes Conference under the banner "Global geopolitics and local lives".
External pressure can be clearly felt in Hammerfest. The police discovered advanced camera surveillance directed toward Equinor's gas plant at Melkøya in January 2026, and there is great interest from national and international media. High North News had to wait politely until Rogde had finished responding to another media inquiry when we met him in Kirkenes.
"It does seem as though Norway understands the role we play. It is an incredibly long way down to Oslo. In France, they find it necessary to provide education on where electricity actually comes from. But not in Norway."
"What is happening in Oslo?"
On Wednesday, the Conservative Party’s new leadership visited Kirkenes. Both Sør-Varanger and Hammerfest municipalities are governed by the Conservatives, and Magnus Mæland in Sør-Varanger had a clear message for party leader Ine Eriksen Søreide.
"First of all, what the hell is going on in Oslo?" Mæland replies from the stage, followed by laughter from the audience.
But gravity remains a heavy backdrop.
"Apparently, we are simply unable to build enough power or critical infrastructure here. What are they doing? If we are as important to the nation as every minister who comes to Kirkenes to tick off Eastern Finnmark says, that it is important that people live in the Morth, that resources are used in here, then I want to ask them, when?"
Mæland mentions marine resources and a thriving tourism industry as areas for investment.
Far from power
Rogde from Hammerfest also has a clear message for the mother party.
"When will something happen? There is such a long distance between words and action. How many years are we supposed to sit and listen to how important we are as a region? We rush in and out of meetings and conferences, knocking on doors. I am sick and tired of having to ask for what we need when we come to Oslo from Finnmark, when it should be the entirely other way round," says Rogde.
He believes this is about a lack of understanding of what the North really is.
"We are delivering something to them. From Hammerfest alone, we deliver almost NOK 1 billion to the state treasury every day. That is money that goes toward services across society. So no, we do not need to ask for anything. We just need to be left in peace and to develop ourselves. We have the best opportunities in the whole of Norway for development, but we must be allowed to do so," says the mayor to High North News.
Hammerfest is home to Hammerfest LNG, a facility for the reception and processing of natural gas on Melkøya, operated by Equinor.
Deliberate policy?
The obstacles standing in the way of Finnmark’s development have gone so far that Rogde asks himself whether there is a deliberate policy behind it.
What do you mean by that?
"It seems to be much more difficult to process land-intensive projects in the North than in the South. Just look at the discussions around the electrification of Melkøya. Had it been Mongstad, this would never have been an issue," says Rogde.
Mongstad is Equinor's oil refinery in southwest Norway.
We may be the municipality in Finnmark with the most stable population decline
"If the authorities would rather have industrial development in the south, they can just throw a few incendiary remarks about land-use conflict into the debate, and it immediately flares up. And instead of taking the debate, they focus on projects in the south instead."
Takes several years
The mayor highlights two specific projects: National Road 94 to Hammerfest and the E45 at Kløfta from Alta to Kautokeino, which is important for heavy transport to and from abroad. The zoning plan for the E45 was adopted in October 2018 and construction began eight years later, in February this year, after several rounds with the reindeer husbandry industry in the area.
"For several years, we have tried to argue why we need to invest in infrastructure in Northern Norway. If we are to get money to build an airport, roads or anything else, it takes many years. And when they finally make it into the National Transport Plan, they are still not guaranteed. It seems as if issues are brought up at the last minute, bringing the projects to a halt."
The issues have included everything from lesser white-fronted goose to plants, Rogde explains, and believes there are many who have an interest in having nothing happen in Finnmark. He believes the government must cut to the chase.
"We must use the Security Act," says the mayor.
According to the Security Act, national security considerations can override environmental and nature conservation concerns. However, such decisions require a strict legal balancing, and the protections are strong.
Land-use conflict
Together with Porsanger and Sør-Varanger municipalities, Alta forms the local civil-military co-operation for the new Finnmark Brigade, and Alta has been designated a strategic hub for logistics, supplies and preparedness.
Rogde mentions the Halkavarre firing range in Porsanger, which is old and cannot withstand the strain from today’s vehicles and weapons.
Over time, there has been dialogue between the Norwegian Defence Estates Agency, the municipality, the County Governor, the Sami Parliament and the reindeer grazing district on how the Armed Forces’ needs can be balanced against consideration for reindeer husbandry.
"The situation has been at a complete standstill there for three years. Of course, everyone must be heard and taken seriously. But the Security Act must be used here. The government has to cut through."
Reluctance to engage
Do you think the government is reluctant to engage when it comes to the reindeer husbandry industry?
"Yes, it is cultural, of course. And politics from the Norwegian Sami Association. It is very unfortunate for the reindeer husbandry industry. The issue is being wrapped in cotton wool and no one dares to take on the debate. This friction between permanent residents and the reindeer husbandry industry is entirely unnecessary, with the parties pointing at each other. It all fizzles out into nothing, leaving no one satisfied," says the mayor of Hammerfest.
For the mayor of Berlevåg municipality, Rolf Laupstad (Labor), land-use conflict is a familiar matter. The municipality is working on hydrogen production and wind power plants located on Raggovidda, south of Berlevåg.
Reindeer herders and the Sami Parliament believe that developments in these reindeer grazing and calving areas threaten traditional reindeer husbandry and, among other things, cite the Supreme Court judgment in the Fosen case, which held interventions may violate Indigenous rights.
"We may be the Finnmark municipality with the most stable population decline, and we are doing everything we can to reverse this. But we must have jobs. We have two things: fish and wind. Wind can become energy. And if there are power lines, the energy can be used and exported."
Strong opinions from the South
What will it take to get through to those in power in the South?
"First of all, we need to have the same perception of reality in the South and in the North, and it seems they do not. When we talk to parliament politicians, who have never been to Finnmark, they have strong opinions about how things should be here. We are getting rather tired of that," says Terje Rogde from Hammerfest.
"Terms like carpeting Finnmark are used when people are talking about perhaps 100 wind turbines. So we invite them north so they can see what it is like here. Politicians in the south have no concept of the areas being discussed up here."
Is what we are asking for unreasonable?
Same direction
There is no major political divide between the parties in Finnmark. Berlevåg's Labor mayor and Mæland agree on most matters.
You seem to agree quite a lot, the mayors in Finnmark. Have party divisions in Northern Norwegian politics been erased in favor of north-south politics?
"Perhaps, yes. We have two major governing parties in Norway, the Labor Party and the Conservative Party, and they work well together on the bigger issues. However, we have a weakened minority government that is losing case after case in parliament. This benefits neither Labor nor Norway. We need to pull more in the same direction on the major projects."
The damned northerner
Mæland in Sør-Varanger is provoked by the worn-out story of the damned northerner who complains about everything.
"Are our demands unreasonable? We live in the bastion defense against Russia, with the world's largest collection on nuclear weapons aimed at the USA. Is it important that people live here, in regard to safety and security? Yes, there is agreement on that. Then, is it unreasonable to at least facilitate basic infrastructure such as the power grid? We should be at the top of the pile of applications when it comes to everything from aquaculture to mines and tourism," says Mæland.
"It is almost as if realpolitik is dead."
Keeping at it
In Berlevåg, it is problematic when fishing quotas are reduced, resulting in seasonal workers being laid off. They go home and the population declines.
"I have pointed out that connection, but it does not seem to be getting all the way through," says Laupstad.
Mæland points out that, as mayors, they are working hard for the good of the municipality, have turned a deficit in Sør-Varanger into a surplus, are working to provide leisure activities, making necessary cuts and taking demographics seriously.
"We say yes to business, restructure the municipalities and do everything set out in the strategy of whichever government is in office at the time. That is why it is provoking to hear that we are problematic when we ask for a functional power line to a mine that is to become fully electric," says a frustrated mayor, choosing words that do not come easily.
"It makes me feel a bit misunderstood," says Mæland with a wry smile.
Losing tenders
In addition, they feel the ministries do not talk to each other about Finnmark.
"We have to find a new person every time, and suddenly three years have passed," says Hammerfest's Mayor Rogde.
Do you mean that Northern Norway is also losing out on defense projects?
"The procurement system is a dinosaur in the world we live in today. It is good defense to use local suppliers, as they do in Ukraine. Up here, everything has to be acquired through dedicated state channels. It is cumbersome and old-fashioned and will, in time, weaken the defense. Equinor and the oil industry have understood this and use local networks. When the crisis comes, the solution will be local."
Rogde explains that the military in Porsanger, for example, does not buy bread locally, but has a procurement agreement in Troms. It must be possible to make local adaptations, Rogde believes.
"We must also focus on why we live here. Many things should have been done differently, but we live here because we have unique opportunities. And why do we talk so much about industry? Because we know that when money flows through a local community, creative industries will follow. We do a lot of things right here, but it is provoking to hear that we are the most important region in Norway without any action following up on that statement," concludes the mayor of the border municipality of Sør-Varanger, Magnus Mæland.
