Russia has accused Norway of violating the Svalbard Treaty by preventing food deliveries to Russian miners in Barentsburg. This is rejected by Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt. – The shipment that was stopped at the Norwegian-Russian border has been stopped on the basis of the sanctions that prohibit Russian companies from transporting goods on Norwegian territory, Huitfeldt says. – Norway does not violate the Svalbard Treaty, says Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt. Photo: Lars Erik Skrefsrud / news The Russian accusations have come after a Russian mining company on Svalbard has had its application to transport Russian goods via the Norwegian mainland rejected. In May, twenty tonnes of Russian goods were stopped at Storskog border station. This is what should have been the motivation for the extensive computer attack on a number of Norwegian public websites on Wednesday, according to the Russian hacker group Killnet. But Norway does not refuse Russia to transport supplies to Svalbard. Norway only says no to transporting the goods via the Norwegian mainland. – The sanctions are meant to affect Arild Olsen is the leader of the Longyearbyen local council. Like Huitfeldt, he believes it is entirely possible for the Russians to transport food to the residents of Barentsburg. – I think the Russian reaction is an overreaction in relation to the facts. – It is possible to get food supplies up to Svalbard without it having to go over Norwegian land. So I can not see that one violates the principles of the Svalbard Treaty, says Olsen. Olsen says he sees the scheme as an attempt to create discord and problematize something that does not have to be a problem. – The sanctions that have been rolled out are meant to affect Russia. After all, we are talking about a country that has attacked another country with 44 million people. I would think that getting a container of 7 tons should be solved. – The Russians will of course have greater problems getting food up to Svalbard, but it is entirely possible to make it happen, says Arild Olsen who is the leader of the Longyearbyen local council. Photo: Ida Louise Rostad / news Several Russian actors, among them the Russian embassy, have asked Norway to make an exception to the sanctions against Russia. They therefore want an exception, so that they can transport their goods from Russia via Tromsø, and on from there by freight boat. The application letter from the Russians states that they fear a humanitarian crisis if the goods are not allowed to pass Storskog. The goods to Barentsburg follow this itinerary. From Murmansk to Tromsø by truck and on by freight boat to Svalbard. Cheap, but not the only solution Anniken Huitfeldt says Norway is not trying to put obstacles in the way of supplies to Barentsburg. She points out that goods transport to Barentsburg does not have to go via mainland Norway by Russian truck. – Transport from Russia via Tromsø to Barentsburg has been used because this is efficient and cheap, not because it is the only possible solution. Huitfeldt says the mining company Trust Arktikugol is free to find other solutions to supply the Barentsburg community. “Svalbard is exempt from the ban on port calls for Russian-flagged vessels, and we have clearly signaled a willingness to consider a dispensation from the flight ban,” says Huitfeldt. Huitfeldt confirms that the Norwegian embassy has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on the matter. It was said that it is unacceptable for the Norwegian authorities to “block Russian supplies” to Barentsburg on Svalbard. Unfriendly actions against Russia inevitably lead to similar measures on the part of Russia, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs writes in its own pages. Earlier this week, news has been in contact with Russian residents in Barentsburg. They do not want to comment on the matter.
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Russia accuses Norway of violating the Svalbard Treaty – Norway believes it is overreacting – news Troms and Finnmark
