Two hundred kilometres above the Arctic Circle hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers are finding a new life in northern Norway, but recently the doors have been shutting on those desperate to start fresh in the High North.
The implementation of the joint Russian-Norwegian-Canadian project “Vyngy syo” (in Nenets “Voice of the tundra”) aimed to organize broadcasting in Nenets language is going on in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
The Russian Orthodox holiday of Epiphany has for the first time been celebrated in Kirkenes with a traditional plunge into ice cold water that has been blessed.
Murmansk celebrates the 20th anniversary of Barents cooperation! This Saturday, 19 January, all willing had a chance to express their feelings towards Barents cooperation on the central city stadium.
ARKHANGELSK: Russians are back to their jobs after Christmas. The economists and business analysts however continue to complain that these 20 extra days of vacations in January and in May bring a serious loss to the national economy.
January 11th marks the 20-years anniversary of the Barents cooperation. BarentsObserver congratulates all participants of this unique cross-border bridge-building network between east and west at the top of Europe. We look forward to the coming years of successful interregional formalized cooperation between the northern parts of Norway, Russia, Finland and Sweden.
KIRKENES: “The global focus on the north pushes forward a need for more Barents Cooperation in the future”, says Rune Rafaelsen at the Norwegian Barents Secretariat. However, he sees the weakening of civil rights in Russia as a challenge in the years to come.
“Equal rules for journalists reporting across the borders in the Barents Region should be included in the new Kirkenes-declaration to be signed by the Prime Ministers of Norway, Russia, Sweden and Finland,” says head of Barents Press Morten Ruud.
The controversial law on education, signed by President Vladimir Putin on New Year’s Eve, states that classes in non-Russian languages cannot be conducted to the detriment teaching in Russian language.
