Three days processing of visa-applications is history. “Always apply at least 15 days prior to scheduled departure. Our processing time is 10 days,” says Marit Egholm Jacobsen, head of the visa section at Norway’s Consulate General in Murmansk.
The Finnish Border Guard says it’s concerned about the security along the eastern border with Russia, as budgetary cutbacks have caused a 40 percent drop in patrols in recent years.
Even though most diplomatic contacts are on freezing level between Norway and Russia, there are no changes for the annual Norwegian-Russian search and rescue exercises in the Barents Sea.
The Border Commissariat will not be merged with the police as part of a nationwide police reform, while the two existing police districts in Finnmark will be united into one.
Russia works seven days a week with new highway to the border, but the Norwegian Public Roads Administration today announced that the new highway on their side will not open before 2017.
How come that the Barents and the Balkan regions have nearly the same average life expectancy, but their GDPs are dramatically different? BarentsObserver compares two border regions trying to find an answer.
Terrorism fears, with police and soldiers likely targets, is the reason for the special decision to allow Finnish Border Guards to be armed when on patrol in the normally relaxed town of Kirkenes in Norway’s northeastern corner.
