- I regret that, once again, Russia has imposed such stringent restrictions on the OSCEs monitoring of the Russian presidential elections scheduled for 2 March that it will be impossible to monitor the elections in a fully adequate manner, said Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre in a press note.
Finnish Minister of Defence Jyri Hakamies proposes to establish a new military training centre outside the northern town of Sodankyla. Extensive military training cooperation could begin with Sweden and Norway on the site, he said when visiting the town last Friday.
The world’s northernmost garrison, the Norwegian Porsanger Garrison, will be moved to a more southern base. Instead, an allied army training camp will be opened on the site.
The thickness of the ice layers near the Hopen Island in the Spitsbergen archipelago has shrunk with 40 percent over the last 40 years. The trend is the same as all over the Arctic, researchers at the Norwegian Polar Institute say.
The Yuri Dolgorukii, the first Russian fourth generation nuclear submarine, will head off to sea in October-November this year, head commander of the Russian Navy, Mr. Vladimir Vysotskii, said today.
While Russia is stepping up strategic flights in the Arctic and Norway is ready to invest in both Navy and Air Force in the North, the Swedish government proposes to leave all of northern Sweden without Air Force bases.
While some analysts say they fear military tensions between the countries in the High North, Norwegian and Russian military men are cooperating better than ever. Contacts between the Norwegian and Russian Armed Forces are getting more and more extensive, the Norwegian side confirm.
Finnish Forest Industries Federation chief executive Anne Brunila warned in a statement Wednesday that Finland’s forest industry’s wood supply was drifting into a catastrophic situation, Newsroom Finland reports.
Vladimir Putin says a number of federal powers might be transferred from Moscow to the federal subjects. The statement comes as the former president is entering the post as prime minister.
The two Russian companies Uralmash and Industrial Drilling Installations have jointly formed a new company which is to help boost the design, development and construction of oil platforms and rigs.
Russias first floating nuclear power plant might come into operation half a year after original schedules, the countrys nuclear power company Rosenergoatom confirmed this week.
