Newsletter: Exercises and Reconciliation
Image from the Lytring debate: What will reconciliation mean in Northern Norway? (Photo: Lytring)
Dear reader. The High North is repeatedly said to be a low-tension area, in stark contrast to the many exercises and the increased military activity we report on. We also cover the topic of reconciliation and political influence, on which Editor-in-Chief Arne O. Holm believes that young voices are not being heard.
"The Armed Forces says it needs people to live in the north," says Gunnar Wilhelmsen (Labor), Mayor of Tromsø, to High North News.
HNN can often report on new exercises in the Arctic, whether under the auspices of NATO, the Nordic region, or Russia. The image looks a bit different from the north than from the south, as a group of marine vessels of the Russian Northern Fleet is currently on a two-month-long operation in Arctic waters.
In addition, American and Finnish air forces are co-training in Lapland, Northern Finland.
Reconciliation and young voices
In June, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presented its report on the state's Norwegianisation of the Sami, Kven, and Forest Finns.
"Only four percent of those who have told their stories are under 30. Forty-three percent are older than 67. When the commission proposes conciliatory measures, it knows little or nothing about how the new generation of indigenous people, whether they are Sami, Kven, or Forest Finns, perceive the situation. Or what measures they want," writes Holm.
This week, the topic of reconciliation was debated, led by the Editor-in-Chief. (Norwegian only)
Member of the Governing Council of the Sámi Parliament, Runar Myrnes Balto, writes in a reader's letter that a process is being commenced in which the Sami cannot win.
"And that is something to think about when we have to decide whether we can be reconciled," writes Balto (Norwegian only).
Do not miss the op-ed about a climate adaptation strategy for the ocean (Norwegian only).
Read about this and more at High North News. If you have something on your mind, send us an e-mail at hinn@nord.no.
Wishing you all the best for the weekend on behalf of the editorial staff,
Trine Jonassen, News Editor
HNN's Birgitte Annie Molid Martinussen has translated this newsletter.