In a letter to the Russian and Norwegian Ministries of Foreign Affairs Barents Safari applies for permission to take tourists on river boats into the Russian part of the Pasvik river near the village of Borisoglebsk. On the Western bank of the river, Russia has a 3.6 km² large “enclave” housing a Russian-Orthodox church.
According to the application from Barents Safari, they plan to bring tourists into Russian territorial waters twice a day during the summer season. They will have a short stop on Russian territory without disembarkation and then return to the Norwegian part of the river. – It is important for our guests to be able to take pictures of the Russian-Orthodox church, the application reads.
Barents Safari has for more than 10 years arranged boat trips from Kirkenes up the Pasvik river to the Russian Border. Nearly 3000 tourists have had the chance to get a glimpse of the Russian-Orthodox church and be in very close proximity to the big Eastern neighbor for a short while.
The application does not include disembarkation on Russian territory, but it is part of Barents Safari’s future plans to be able to let tourists visit the Russian enclave on the Western side of the Pasvik river.
When the border between Norway and Russia was drawn in 1826, the historical Russian connection to Borisoglebsk was taken into account and Russia got a 3.6 square kilometers large area on the “Norwegian” (Western) side of the Pasvik river. As a compensation, Norway got a considerably larger area between the Northern parts of the river Pasvik and Grense Jakobselv. Summer and autumn 1965 a tourist compound was opened in the Russian (then Soviet) enclave around the church with visa-free access for Norwegians and other Scandinavians.
