Once again, Russia is applying for permission for a research cruise in Norwegian waters. Now the Russians want to carry out a two-month long research trip to Svalbard. It is the research vessel “Dalnie Zelentsy” that will carry out the voyage in the period from 15 December to 10 February. This is shown in the application that the Russian embassy sent to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in mid-October. Now, however, the Russian plans face opposition from both Norwegian politicians and researchers. The leader of the foreign affairs committee at the Storting, Ine Eriksen Søreide from the Conservative Party, demands that Norway reject the Russian application outright. She believes there are very good reasons not to allow this type of Russian activity in Norwegian waters now. – In updated Russian military doctrines, Russia is concerned with the use of civilian vessels for military purposes. It is a concern that we must take seriously, and one that I expect the government to consider carefully. The research vessel “Dalnie Zelentsy” on a voyage off Svalbard in 2019. She says there are many risk factors in such voyages, especially in the security policy situation Norway is in, as a result of the war in Ukraine. – We cannot be naive, writes Søreide in an e-mail to news. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has previously stated that Norway can only refuse research in close sea areas, within the so-called 12-mile zone. Further out from the coast, research can only be refused in a few cases. To take water samples “Dalnie Zelentsy” is owned by the Murmansk Institute of Marine Biology. According to the application, the main purpose of the cruise at Svalbard is to take water samples and bottom samples, as part of a fixed monitoring programme. The ship is scheduled to go from Murmansk to the Russian mining settlement of Barentsburg on Svalbard in mid-December. The ship will then carry out surveys in the sea areas north, south and west of Svalbard. The last part of the cruise will go from a point east of Svalbard, and in a straight line south to Murmansk. According to the application from the Russian embassy, the route may be changed as a result of weather and ice conditions. This is what the planned train route looks like for “Dalnie Zelentsy”. Researcher Ina Holst-Pedersen Kvam at the Norwegian Naval Academy is also critical of the Russian cruise plans at Svalbard. – Here one must make use of the clauses in the law of the sea which allow for refusal [russerne] to carry out the tour, says Kvam. According to the researcher, the Institute of Marine Biology in Murmansk can in no way be compared to the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research. She points out that the institute supports the Russian navy to a much greater extent, including with a separate program that trains whales and seals for military purposes. – This is not an innocent research actor, but a civilian institution with a heavy military side. We should expect that they have been given an assignment (on Svalbard, journal note). It can be anything from sabotage and information gathering, to the shipping of military equipment and personnel – although that does not rule out innocent research activity in parallel, says Kvam. Believes Svalbard is a vulnerable point Russia has recently sent several applications to Norway that deal with Svalbard. At the beginning of October, the Russians applied for permission to create a charter flight route between Moscow and Longyearbyen. That application is now being processed by the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority. In addition, the Russians therefore want to carry out a marine biological cruise with “Dalnie Zelentsy”. Kvam believes it is probably no coincidence that Russia sends several applications dealing with Svalbard at about the same time. It shows that Russia sees Svalbard as a vulnerable point and an effective means of pressure, says the researcher. Ina Holst-Pedersen Kvam, researcher at the Norwegian Naval Academy. Photo: Forsvarets høgskole – In today’s security policy situation, the recent Russian advances may foreshadow something more serious in the long term, says Kvam. She believes that the Norwegian government has been painted into a corner, and that no matter what the decision is, it will cause unrest. – We cannot shut Russia out of Svalbard, and the Kremlin knows that. By exploiting the vulnerable points in the Svalbard Treaty, Norwegian sovereignty and political room for action are undermined, says Kvam. – Mapping routines Aftenposten wrote earlier in October that a total of nine Russian research ships have sailed in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea in recent months. An example is the ship “Akademik B. Petrov”. At the beginning of October, it sailed past several Norwegian gas and oil installations in the North Sea. Ships with the “Academic” designation are described by several researchers as pure spy ships of the more “offensive” type. The Conservative Party was very skeptical that Norway allowed the previous research tour, and on several occasions asked the government to reconsider its decision. – The Law of the Sea sets some clear limitations for denying someone a research trip. But we have to be extra vigilant now, says Søreide. Ina Holst-Pedersen Kvam, for her part, believes that Russia has already mapped out what they need. Now it is more about keeping up with practices and routines in a new normal state. – The common denominator is that Norway’s and NATO’s resources are drawn in different directions to split the surveillance capacity. A space of opportunity is being manipulated in a long-term attrition game, says Kvam. On internal consultation The Russian application for a research trip to Svalbard is now on internal consultation with the Norwegian Defence, the Directorate of Petroleum, the Directorate of Fisheries and the Governor of Svalbard. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the case is still under consideration, the press service informs news. However, Ina Holst-Pedersen Kvam believes that Norway must say no to the Russian application, even if it will be an unpopular decision. – Hopefully, there will be few countries that will question such an assessment, when we see what similar vessels are doing in other places. It is not only in Svalbard and in Vesterålen that there have been cable breaks. The alternative is to inspect the vessel (“Dalnie Zelentsy”, journal note) and monitor it over time. But the Norwegian Armed Forces are at a minimum level, and cannot afford to prioritize much-needed resources on shadowing such “bullshit”, says Kvam.
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Warns against giving Russian research ship permission to cruise off Svalbard – news Troms and Finnmark
