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.
With the Arctic becoming an object of steadily growing attention, Murmansk Oblast establishes the “Arctic University” to prepare Barents students for jobs in Arctic oil and gas projects.
As Syrian refugees in the hundreds cross over from Russia, capacities in Kirkenes reach the limits. Now an abandoned military compound is turned into refugee reception center.
The environmental organization Bellona Murmansk was on Monday dissolved as a NGO after it was declared a «foreign agent» by Russia’s Justice Ministry earlier this year.
The situation around the Norwegian tanker that was reported to be adrift in the Barents Sea yesterday, is under control, ship-owner Marine Supply says.
Finland’s Finance Ministry says Finnish public finances will remain in deficit until the end of the decade, even if government implements proposed deep spending cuts.
“This sends a clear message to Russia that things aren’t so good when it comes to basic journalistic values in Norway either” The firing of BarentsObserver’s Editor Thomas Nilsen has led to massive reactions from journalists and other protectors of press freedom.
