As A Northerner, I Appreciate Time to Think Even When Europe is on Fire Commentary: Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre is accused of dragging his feet when it comes to sanctions against Russia. Our ports are not shut for Russian fishing vessels fast enough, and weapon supplies from Norway to Ukraine arrive too little and too late. There may be good reasons for that. As a northerner, I appreciate time to think – even when Europe is on fire.
Hard Security Focus May Once Again Come to Dominate the Arctic, Researcher Fears Arctic cooperation may still survive the Ukraine crisis, however, it can nevertheless be overshadowed by the emphasis on military security, which ruled the ground during the Cold War, Finnish Professor Timo Koivurova points out.
Sanctions Against Russian Vessels May Become Burden for Fisheries Cooperation, Says Researcher “This is an area in which we should really consider twice and not blindly follow the EU’s sanctions. They neither cooperate with Russia about fisheries in the Barents Sea nor have the fisheries protection zone around Svalbard to consider”, says Senior Researcher Andreas Østhagen at FNI.
Dnipro is Putin’s Rubicon: A Norwegian Perspective Putin has, utterly through his own actions, insisted on becoming a global problem and the dictator has, through remorseless violence in a senseless war, prepared his own downfall, argues Lars Rowe, PhD and Norwegian historian of Soviet and Russian history.
Russian Troop Relocation Indicates Little Interest in Expanding the Conflict to the High North Russia has signaled that it wants to limit the geographical conflict area to Ukraine. Parts of the Russian land forces from the Kola Peninsula have been transferred to Ukraine. That indicates that Russia currently does not envision an expansion of the conflict to the North, military analysts say to High North News.
High North Expert: “The Norwegian-Russian Border Relationship will not Necessarily be Hard Hit” “I do not believe that what is happening in Ukraine right now will necessarily have a strong direct effect on the border relationship between Norway and Russia”, says High North Researcher Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen. At the same time, he points out that in a worst-case scenario, the conflict potential in the High North is large.
May Be Harder to Attend Arctic Council Meetings in Russia A further escalation in Ukraine may have repercussions for the political contact through the Arctic Council, says Senior Research Fellow Andreas Østhagen at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute. “I would assume it might be difficult for Norway and the other Arctic countries’ foreign ministers to go to Moscow if a summit were to be held in the near future.”
In the Arctic, East and West Still Meet for Dialogue Commentary: We are bombarded daily with contradicting news messages from the Ukraine conflict. As northerners, we are pretty much the only ones to face the threat of war face to face. On Wednesday, the Kirkenes conference kicks off with a meeting between Norway and Russia on a high political level.
Conflict Spillover from Ukraine to the Baltic Sea and the Arctic In the currently strained security situation, the Arctic is connected to the militarily tense Baltic Lake region. The conflict between Russia and the West currently has ripple effects in North European waters and will also have such effects even further north, argues Swedish military analyst.
