NATO Flexes Muscles and Russia Sanctions Proves Effective

Dear reader. American paratroopers descend over Northern Norway while the Russian Northern Fleet is being rearmed. Sanctions against Russia seem to be having an effect. The week is also about depopulation and minority youth, to name a few. Here is the week that passed in the North.

Les på norsk

HNN Journalist Hilde-Gunn Bye was present as over 100 US paratroopers jumped out over Inner Troms in Northern Norway after a seven-hour flight over the North Pole from Alaska, showcasing the US’s ability and will to defend Norway and the alliance.

A new parliament proposition proposes upgrading and modernizing the Norwegian Coastal Ranger Command, based in Harstad, at a cost of NOK 2.5 billion.

The Russian Northern Fleet has gained a new Commander, in addition to four new submarines, and another underway.

People in the North

Editor and Commentator Arne O. Holm is concerned about the plummeting population figures in Northern Norway this week, as cheap Easter eggs are reaching our shopping carts.

“With simple measures, the food barons entice the customers into their stores. The method can easily be used to entice people northward as well,” believes Holm (Norwegian only).

Researchers at UiT, the Arctic University of Norway, want to reduce the discrimination against Kven people and Norwegian-Finnish youth.

“Youth belonging to this cultural minority must feel seen and protected,” says the researcher behind the project (Norwegian only).

Sanctions and cooperation

Two years into the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Western sanctions call into question the future of Russia’s Arctic energy ambitions, and US measures strike at the heart of Russia’s Arctic plans.

Rosneft has begun construction on the dock for the Vostok Oil terminal at Sever Bay. Meanwhile, President Putin has called on the security service FSB to assist Russian companies in avoiding sanctions.

The EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, recently visited the Faroe Islands and Greenland to form closer ties between the union and the countries’ self-government authorities.

We are now entering Easter Week, and we want to wish all our readers a wonderful holiday.

Best wishes, Editor-in-Chief Trine Jonassen