Newsletter The New Normal
The crew of Frugo Discovery has been working on the seabed mapping of the sea area between Bodø in Northern Norway and Svalbard/Jan Mayen since June. (Photo: Birgitte Annie Hansen)
Dear reader. The Norwegian general election has provided the incumbent government with four more years. And both Greenland, Russia and China continue to dominate the news. Here is the latest news from the High North.
The Norwegian general election is over and resulted in four more years for the incumbent government. It was also largely the Labour Party that was able to present a High North initiative ahead of the election, something our commentator Arne O. Holm noted.
“The Norwegian parliamentary election of 2025 will go down as the election in which half of Norway was ignored and forgotten”, Holm wrote a few days before the election.
So far, no governments have been able to stop the depopulation of the North, no matter the policy, and the population of Skellefteå in the Swedish Arctic decreased during the first half of 2025.
Science Journalist Birgitte Annie Hansen has talked to the Finnish project leader of a new project that will now explore what it takes to make the students stay, live and work in the North.
Security and defense
The seabed survey for the subsea cable that is to replace the old cable to Svalbard and establish a connection to Jan Mayen is soon to be completed. Science journalist Hansen has been aboard the ship that conducts the mapping. (Norwegian only)
Greenland continues to dominate the news.
The EU Commission proposes an allocation of 530 million euros to Greenland in the EU's new long-term budget. (Norwegian only)
The Danish Armed Forces holds a major exercise in Greenland, with contributions from France, Germany, Sweden and Norway, and the Norwegian Armed Forces are currently training with the US aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its fleet group off the coast of Northern Norway.
Research
On Tuesday, the Arctic Ocean Expedition 2025 reached the North Pole.
We can also report that fish from the Barents Sea, with the exception of mackerel, have less mercury and persistent organic pollutants than fish from the Norwegian Sea. (Norwegian only)
Russian and Chinese activity
A company of unknown origin has applied fora permit to transship Russian liquefied natural gas in a fjord in Svalbard.
We also present a new analysis showing that Arctic transit shipping continues to be dominated by Russian-Chinese economic ties.
Read about this and more at High North News. Feel free to share the newsletter with other interested parties and do follow us on social media.
Arctic greetings from Editor-in-Chief Trine Jonassen