Last year, a Russian ship came to Norway, and as required by law, a Norwegian pilot came onto the bridge to assist the captain in navigating the ship safely into port. There, the Norwegian found a Russian “spy ship order” to map the movements of the Norwegian intelligence ship “Marjata”. The Norwegian pilot fished out his mobile phone and snapped a picture of the order lying on the bridge desk: “Commander, this is what the enemy looks like,” it said. The incident was first reported by Bergens Tidende, and is one of several involving suspicious Russian behavior in Norwegian waters. In May, all Norwegian ports were closed to Russian-flagged vessels, with one exception: Fishing boats. Norway is the only country in Europe that has such an exception. The government has justified the exception with a view to good neighborliness and joint fisheries management. “Marjata” has engines manufactured by Bergen Engines. The motor factory was almost sold to Russian interests last year, before the acquisition was stopped by then Minister of Justice Monica Mæland (H). The rationale was the risk of technology transfer to the Russian defence, and the strategic location of important defense installations in Bergen. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB Vladimir Putin signed new doctrine But the exception is disputed, not least after Vladimir Putin on July 31 – on “Navy Day” in Russia – signed a new doctrine which is interpreted as a militarization of the Russian fishing fleet . In the speech, Putin stated that he will secure Russian interests “firmly and by all means”, and pointed to Peter the Great who made Russia a naval power. – That Russian fishing vessels spy is well known, and of course espionage increases in wartime, says Rasmus Hansson in MDG. On 4 August, the tanker Dumankaya was shown away from Tønsberg. The ship sailed under the Turkish flag, but was still considered to be Russian. Hansson adds: – I expect that the Norwegian Armed Forces have an overview and consider it “purposeful” that the Russian activity is allowed to continue, since there is apparently no initiative to block it. news has been in contact with the Norwegian Armed Forces, the Ministry of Fisheries and the Ministry of Defence, but so far without receiving a response. On Wednesday evening, the government announced that the Ministry of Justice will answer questions about the port ban, and that they will do so later in the week. The Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), which is to prevent and investigate threats to national security, falls under the Ministry of Justice. In July, the Russian president signed a new naval doctrine which has been interpreted as a militarization of the Russian fishing fleet. Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev / AP – A big hole in our defense system In the spring, the Liberal Party proposed to urgently deal with a proposal to scrap the exemption “as a contribution to financing Putin’s war”, but only got the MDG and KrF with it. The proposal will therefore be considered when the Storting reopens, in October. Last week, researcher Ina Holst-Pedersen Kvam at the Norwegian Defense Academy (FHS) stated that the exception is in practice an invitation to Russian fishing vessels to “navigate freely along the Norwegian coast for espionage and intelligence purposes as needed”. She told Dagbladet that several Russian fishing vessels “are equipped with military satellite, drone and underwater technology, and that several have the capacity to cut gas pipes in the North Sea”. To news, she refers to the Russian traffic as “an Achilles’ heel” and a “big hole in our defence”. The Business Security Council, chaired by Major General Odin Johannessen, warned before Christmas of “targeted and extensive intelligence activity” from civilian ships that are used for military purposes. Earlier in July, the Norwegian government received a letter from its Ukrainian government colleagues, who asked Norway to drop the special Norwegian exception. – There must be a total ban on Russian vessels in Norwegian ports, without exception Ina Holst-Pedersen Kvam, researcher at the Section for Naval Power and Leadership at FHS/Naval School – Russian maritime gray zone warfare in the north is not a hypothetical problem, but a real threat. Most of our critical, national infrastructure that society depends on is along the coast, and in practice constitutes Norway’s Achilles’ heel. This also lacks a cross-sectoral preparedness regime and sufficient overall defence. The combination is a gift package for all actors who want to hurt us, and the Kremlin knows it. On behalf of the Russian defense and while Norwegian decision-makers look the other way, such trawlers thus get to map all the vulnerabilities involved, and in the process build up decisive advantages for a worst-case escalation of the Ukraine conflict. It has its price to be careful, but the cost of hindsight in this case will be far greater. Arild Hermstad, MDG – Russia has previously shown that it is willing to use civilians to promote its own defense and security policy interests. I am partly therefore afraid that Russia may use vessels for espionage. We support a total ban on vessels in Norwegian ports, without exception. We must show Russia that the war in Ukraine is completely unacceptable, and therefore we must use all the means we can to resist. This war has terrible human costs for Ukraine and affects the whole of Europe. It is time we listen to them when they urgently ask us to close all Russian vessels out of Norwegian ports. Ola Elvestuen, Venstre – As long as Russian fishing vessels have access to Norwegian ports, it will be exploited by Russian authorities. Oligarchs control and own the Russian fisheries in the Barents Sea, and there is no oligarch in Russia who is not completely controlled by Putin. With open ports, we are therefore helping to facilitate the financing of Russian warfare in Ukraine. Norwegian ports must be closed to Russian fishing vessels no. Fiskeribladet – For us, it is incomprehensible that Russian fishing boats will still be allowed to land fish in Norway. The Russians have traditionally landed around 100,000 tonnes of whiting in Norway. Of this, approximately ten percent goes to Norwegian industry. The rest goes out into the world via cold storage. This means that both Norwegian cold stores and international forwarding companies profit from Russian cod. In addition, Norway is now giving the big Russian fishing oligarchs a handshake. Johannes Sivertsen, chairman of the Norwegian Pilots’ Association – 257 Russian pilot certificates have been issued along the Norwegian coast so that Russian captains can sail freely without a Norwegian pilot on board, we are of the opinion that these should be introverted Ina Holst-Pedersen Kvam calls the exception an invitation to Russian fishing vessels to “navigate freely along the Norwegian coast for espionage and intelligence purposes”. Photo: Forsvarets høgskole – Russia uses civilian fishing vessels for military purposes Liberal leader Guri Melby interprets the warnings and the new Russian doctrine as yet another argument that the government should immediately remove the exemption for Russian fishing vessels. On Twitter, she writes that Russia “uses civilian fishing vessels for military purposes” and that “this makes the Norwegian exception even more incomprehensible”. KrF head Olaug Bollestad says that so far there have been good reasons for the special Norwegian fishing vessel exception. She refers to the Svalbard cooperation, joint sea management and “the necessary long-term cooperation on fisheries and the sea area”. But she adds: – If we are unable to control the fishing boats, the exception must be removed. Hårek Elvenes (H) in the foreign affairs and defense committee at the Storting says that security considerations argue for the government having to consider introducing a port ban for Russian fishing vessels and “constantly reassess the decision not to do so.” – We have put questions to the government about what it will take for the government to reconsider the special Norwegian exemptions from the port ban, and about what checks the Norwegian authorities carry out on Russian fishing vessels to ensure that they are not equipped for military purposes. We expect the government to quickly return to the Storting with an answer to this, he says.
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