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.
Swedish mining company LKAB will invest €415.5 million in the moving of Kiruna town center away from its iron ore lode. Construction of the new Kiruna town center will start in June this year.
A small publishing house in Kirkenes is publishing Russian textbooks in mathematics to be used in Norwegian primary schools. Russian curriculum has already been tested on Norwegian school children with good results.
The fixed-term employment of Rune Rafaelsen expires by year end. 24 people have applied for the position as the head of the Norwegian Barents Secretariat.
“Young journalists are the future of cross border communication in the North. We feel it is important to give them a possibility to network and learn about new media”, says Virpi Komulainen, project coordinator of the Barents Mediasphere.
KIRKENES: As Russia curbs freedom of expression, 150 journalists and bloggers from all over the Barents Region gather for lively debate on cross-border reporting in times of trouble.
Having opened up for discussions on the Crimean crisis, newspaper editor Yevgeny Belyanchikov is confronted with extremism accusations from the regional prosecutors.
Barents Institute Director Aileen Espiritu says the new journal certainty will highlight cross-border research in the Barents Region for an international audience.
Northern Russians and Finns are the by far biggest drinkers in the Barents Region. They are also the ones with the highest homicide and suicide rates, figures from Patchwork Barents show.
MURMANSK: Yury Smirnov can’t longer promote Nordic-Russian cooperation on the Kola Peninsula. In addition; President of Nordic Council called off planned visit to Murmansk because of the tense situation with Russia.
