Avinor has already started the building of a new radar close to Kirkenes Airport in eastern Finnmark. This will improve the control over flight traffic in the region.
The Arctic is becoming a centrepiece in the Canadian Conservative Party’s bid for re-election in the upcoming parliament elections. Critics argue that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is too focused on resource development and military expressions of sovereignty rather than northern social development and climate change.
The Russian delegation to the Parliament Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will recommend President Medvedev to take Russia out of the organisation should it decide to deprive the country of its voting rights.
Next summer, the German shipping company Beluga plans unassisted sailing through the Northeast Passage, thus pushing the borders in Arctic shipping. Almost at the same time, rescue services from all the four countries in the Barents Region will assemble for the “Barents Rescue 2009”, a major Arctic oil spill rehearsal.
The President of the Norwegian Sports Confederation, Ms. Tove Paule, today informed that there will be no Winter Olympics application from Tromsø 2018.
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari says Russia’s recent military actions in Georgia has “eroded the credibility of Russian foreign policy initiatives”.
Port authorities in Kirkenes, Norway, are preparing for a jack-up operation with the rig “Energy Exerter”, on its way from the Pechora Sea to Scotland. -The fjords outside Kirkenes are perfect for these kind of operations, leader of a local shipping company says.
The new EU Communication on the Arctic highlights the need for enhanced international cooperation in the Arctic. However, the paper hardly mentions Russia, the by far biggest of the union’s Arctic neighbours.
Sydvaranger Mine owner Northern Iron Limited has signed a contract with British steel company Corus to deliver six million ton of iron ore concentrate each year for the next five years.
After several years with major oil and gas activities in the Norwegian part of the Barents Sea, 2009 will see reduced exploration and less investments.
