Posted on Apr 30, 2022
A new Iron Curtain is eroding Norway's hard-won ties with Russia on Arctic issues
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https://www.npr.org/2022/04/30/ [login to see] /russia-norway-nato-arctic-council
Capt. Pal Bratbak has patrolled the Barents Sea for decades. His Norwegian coast guard search and rescue cutter mostly chases after distress calls from fishermen. The fishermen are chasing the cod — and the cod sometimes lead them astray.
"The codfish, they don't see the border, so we help every boat in our area," he says, and that means as many Russian boats as Norwegian. A treaty allows both nations to catch a quota, and that management of the Barents Sea Arctic cod fleet is considered a success worldwide, both economically and environmentally.
"That's important for Norway and the European Union and NATO and the whole world. And it's important for the Russians," he says.
Capt. Pal Bratbak has patrolled the Barents Sea for decades. His Norwegian coast guard search and rescue cutter mostly chases after distress calls from fishermen. The fishermen are chasing the cod — and the cod sometimes lead them astray.
"The codfish, they don't see the border, so we help every boat in our area," he says, and that means as many Russian boats as Norwegian. A treaty allows both nations to catch a quota, and that management of the Barents Sea Arctic cod fleet is considered a success worldwide, both economically and environmentally.
"That's important for Norway and the European Union and NATO and the whole world. And it's important for the Russians," he says.
A new Iron Curtain is eroding Norway's hard-won ties with Russia on Arctic issues
Posted from npr.org
Norway
Russia
European Union
Posted 2 y ago
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Norwegian Intelligence Service: The Arctic is Increasingly Important
The Arctic is increasingly important to the great powers. Despite security policy tension between Russia and the West, Russian behavior in the High North nevertheless shows that Moscow has an interest in a stable Arctic, according to the Norwegian intelligence services’ most recent threat assessment.
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Moller is counting on those colleagues to keep up the work of saving the Arctic from nuclear contamination. And he's certain his friends oppose the war in Ukraine just as he does — they just can't speak right now. But it's chilling that many local officials across the border, as well as 700 rectors and university presidents in Russia, have issued strong statements supporting Putin. And that makes Moller worry that even this vital work might not resume soon.
"It will take many, many years I'm afraid, to get back to that trust that we have gained through these 25 years of cooperation. So, yeah, it is frightening times," he says."
..."Moller is counting on those colleagues to keep up the work of saving the Arctic from nuclear contamination. And he's certain his friends oppose the war in Ukraine just as he does — they just can't speak right now. But it's chilling that many local officials across the border, as well as 700 rectors and university presidents in Russia, have issued strong statements supporting Putin. And that makes Moller worry that even this vital work might not resume soon.
"It will take many, many years I'm afraid, to get back to that trust that we have gained through these 25 years of cooperation. So, yeah, it is frightening times," he says."
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