– There is a lot of symbolism in this and I am experiencing an increasing polarization, where we are moving towards a collective condemnation also of the Russian individual. So says Guro Brandshaug, mayoral candidate for the Labor Party in Sør-Varanger municipality. From Moss in the south to Vardø in the north, there are municipalities and cities that have friendship agreements with Russian cities. Tromsø’s mayor Gunnar Wilhelmsen believes these should be broken. Brandshaug is skeptical. – What is part of agreements has in practice already been broken at authority level. But whether we should get a more public conclusion to this can be discussed, she says. Little value in terminating the agreements Peace researcher Henrik Urdal in Prio agrees with Brandshaug that the value of terminating these friendship agreements is limited. In any case, if the idea is to point the finger at Putin. – These agreements are often people-to-people cooperation and you should try to keep them. At the same time as the authorities distance themselves from the Russian regime, says Urdal. Peace researcher at Prio, Henrik Urdal, is doubtful about the effect on Putin’s regime of Norwegian cities breaking zone friendship agreements with Russian cities. Photo: Ebba Tellander / Prio Most Norwegian municipalities have already frozen their agreements. – That should basically be enough. It is a clear signal, says Urdal. As general manager of Orinor in Kirkenes, Guro Brandshaug has worked extensively with business cooperation and people-to-people cooperation between Norway and Russia. What she is afraid of, and which she already means to notice, is that the Norwegian people are unable to distinguish between the Russian regime and the Russian people. – It seems as if our actions and how we relate to our fellow Russians are driven by pessimism based on horror and fear. That worries me, she says. Urdal follows Brandshaug. – We must remember that we have to live with Russia on the other side of the conflict. We must hope that the war ends and then all contributions are important, says the researcher. – We have a responsibility 76-year-old Wenche Randal has lived her whole life in Sør-Varanger. She does not like the rhetoric that, among others, Tromsø’s mayor brings, that more people must break with their twin cities. – I feel that he is on a crazy path. I think we should leave it to the authorities to show their distance from the Russian authorities. As people, we have a responsibility to influence good human relations, says Randal. Wenche Randal in Kirkenes believes that the Norwegian people have a responsibility to preserve friendship with the Russian people. Photo: Privat Kirkenes is twinned with Severomorsk and Pechenga. The municipal council in Sør-Varanger will decide whether the friendship agreements are to be formally broken next week. Mayoral candidate from the Conservative Party, Magnus Mæland, is clear that the municipality should cut the friendship agreements with the Russian cities. – I think there will be full agreement in the municipal council on that. It is Putin’s regime that creates division in the world and it is Putin’s regime that violates international law and human rights. I think we need to be clearer about that, says Mæland. Magnus Mæland is the Conservative Party’s mayoral candidate in Sør-Varanger. He believes Kirkenes should show clearer opposition to the Russian regime and break the twinning city agreements. Photo: Kristina Kalinina / news Some time after the war Brandshaug agrees that we must show support for Ukraine, but in a way that does not create division in our own people. – The narrative Putin wins most from is that the West wants Russia badly. We have to break the narrative and then we have to be able to have two thoughts in our heads at the same time, says the mayoral candidate. And adds: – Yes, we must have a clear public dialogue that shows our opposition, while at the same time protecting individuals who are against the war. They are very much alone at the moment. Wenche Randall has both Russian and Ukrainian friends. – And I would like to continue to have that. We must think that one day the war will be over and that we must take care of each other, says the 76-year-old.
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Disagreement about Norway should break ties of friendship with Russia – news Troms and Finnmark
