Newsletter: The Fight for History

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It turned into a strange battle of wreaths as Kirkenes marked the liberation of Eastern Finnmark in Northern Norway on Wednesday. Editor-in-Chief Arne O. Holm was there when conflict arose.  

In this week's commentary, he writes that Sør-Varanger municipality on the border to Russia is uniquely positioned in Norwegian foreign policy. 

"It was when the municipality was lifted out of German occupation in 1944, and it is when Russia is waging a bloody war in Ukraine," Holm writes while piecing together the puzzle in his usual way. 

On its side, NATO has practiced launching ballistic missiles in the Barents Sea and the Arkhangelsk region with its nuclear forces. 

And a joint venture with Emirati logistics company DP World is the latest sign that Russia is looking for new partners to push ahead with the development of its Arctic shipping routes. 

During the Arctic Circle conference in Reykjavik, the leader of NATO's military committee expressed his concern about the increasing competition and militarization in the Arctic, especially from Russia and China (Norwegian only). 

Preparedness and Svalbard 

There is a storm around Helse Nord – one of the Norwegian state's four regional health undertakings – and now the County Council in Nordland is demanding that the health authority put in place risk and vulnerability analyses before major upheavals for the hospitals and the specialist health service in Northern Norway are adopted (Norwegian only). 

A new report shows that the number of Norwegian residents on Svalbard has decreased, but the number of women has increased. 

More non-Norwegian citizens have moved to the Arctic island, and the proportion with Norwegian citizenship has decreased for many years. The inhabitants have better health than on the mainland, and the children do well at school (Norwegian only).

Speaking of women, 

On Tuesday, the Prime Minister of Iceland stood shoulder to shoulder with the women of Iceland in the fight for equal pay between women and men. A prime minister pausing work to strike attracted international attention.

Read about this and more at High North News. 

Next week, we will have many treats from life on the Arctic coast and the High North Tour, so stay tuned. And feel free to share the newsletter with other interested parties. 

Wishing you all the best for the weekend on behalf of the editorial staff,

News Editor Trine Jonassen