Queen Sonja ended her private holiday along the coast of Finnmark on Wednesday evening. The trip started last week in Lakselv, and ended today in Pasvik. – I chose to come back to Finnmark out of curiosity, she says. The queen has also previously chosen to spend her private holiday in Finnmark. This time she has, among other things, cycled, fished and picked mullets. She tells about a week with many experiences and impressions. Queen Sonja held a press conference together with operations manager in the Police Jørn Haagenrud. Photo: Kristin Humstad / news – You get a little closer to the soul in Finnmark. It is very exciting to see how people live and how they feel, says the queen. Paddling along the border On Wednesday morning, the queen paddled from Nyrud to Noatun in Pasvikelva. The border between Norway and Russia runs in the middle of the river. – The nature and history in Pasvik are very fascinating. It has been a great experience for me to be here. – Today you have traveled along a border river to a country that is at war, did you make any reflections when you were on the river? – The river is a bond that you must have, and you have had it since time immemorial. Queen Sonja says she was not afraid of ending up on the wrong side of the border. The Queen has been to Finnmark many times before, and draws from Tamsøya in Porsangerfjorden as a favorite place. The village of Bugøynes in Sør-Varanger also made an impression on the queen. Over 30 years ago, she visited the village, which at the time put itself up for sale. – So great that they have made it this far. It’s a charming place, Sonja said. When asked why the queen returns to Finnmark time and time again, she replies as follows: – You build up a kind of love for a place. The Pasvikelva is located in the very east of Norway, and the border between Norway and Russia runs in the middle of the river. A complicated neighbor Former mayor of Sør-Varanger, Rune Rafaelsen (Ap), has been involved in Norwegian-Russian cooperation for a number of years. That the queen took a paddle trip in the border area is wise and funny, he says. – It is a great mark that she is using Pasvikdalen, but it is probably not an assertion of sovereignty. He thinks the area the queen visits is the most interesting in Norway. – This is where there is the most tension, and it is because of our border with Russia and Finland, he says. He believes that Russia is a complicated neighbour. – If you look at it purely geopolitically, Norway only has one real foreign policy challenge, and that is our relationship with Russia, according to Rafaelsen. The former mayor of Sør-Varanger believes the municipality he grew up in is the most interesting in the country. He singles out that boundary line and the Pasvik valley as the reasons for that. Photo: Kristina Kalinina / news Rafaelsen follows what the Royal House is doing, and thinks it is very good that they care about Finnmark. – Pasvikdalen is a jewel with primeval forest, the country’s highest concentration of brown bears, and a rich bird and plant life, says Rafaelsen. Have you been to Pasvikdalen? The royal family thrives in Finnmark The queen visited Finnmark for the first time in 1969. She was then crown princess, and spent ten days in the north in the middle of winter. She keeps coming back, both with and without family, and thrives in Finnmark. – She loves being in Finnmark, and it is very beautiful there at this time of year, says Kristi Marie Skrede. Skrede is a journalist at news, responsible for covering the Royal Palace for news Nyheter. For the past week, the Queen has lived on board the Royal Ship “Norge”, and visited several places along the coast of Finnmark. Among other things, she has been to the Porsangerfjord and to the island of Tamsøy, where she has been twice before. She has also been to Tana, Polmak, Smalfjorden, Bugøynes, Hamningberg, Vardø and today she is visiting Pasvikdalen.
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– A great experience – news Troms and Finnmark
