Norway and Russia

For two decades there was a genuine, if cautious, thaw in Norway’s relations with Russia. All this shuddered to a halt, of course, with the invasion of Ukraine. Norway’s most alarming wake-up call came on September 26 this year. The explosions at the Nord Stream pipelines finally changed everything. Norway seemed like a sleepwalker that had careered straight into a concrete wall. After that sabotage, the Home Guard was posted to energy installations, and Coast Guard vessels have been patrolling along North Sea pipelines. A Russian deep-cover spy was arrested in Tromsø, and the police asked the public to report any strange drone activity. It was a move they came to regret: there was a good number of Norwegians who could’t distinguish between a drone and a passenger jet, or the planet Jupiter.

EPISODE PHOTO
Border markers in the far north of Norway, Norway’s post in yellow, Russia’s post on the far side of the river.  
Photo: Clemensfranz. Licence: CC BY 3.0

CONTACT
Twitter: @northbynorway
Email: northbynorway@gmail.com

LINKS & SOURCES
https://www.tekniskmuseum.no/grossraum

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/kirkenes/2022/10/people-turned-their-back-russias-consul-marking-liberation-day

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/04/jo-nesbo-interview-scandinavia-take-things-for-granted-norway

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/life-and-public/2022/10/tromso-freezes-friendship-agreement-murmansk-arkhangelsk-and-nadym

https://www.nord24.no/ekspert-dette-er-god-gammeldags-amerikansk-propaganda/s/5-32-31950

https://paperzz.com/doc/9091939/the-coming-storm--baltic-sea-security

https://e24.no/naeringsliv/i/EQwO4j/olje-og-energiministeren-ingen-indikasjoner-paa-at-det-kan-komme-angrep-mot-norsk-sokkel

https://www.tu.no/artikler/sjoforsvaret-har-teknologi-som-kan-avslore-sabotasjeaksjoner-mot-norske-rorledninger/522630

https://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/i/7635mV/dokumenter-knytter-mistenkt-spion-til-russisk-etterretningstjeneste

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/04/jo-nesbo-interview-scandinavia-take-things-for-granted-norway

MUSIC
00:00 North by Norway
written on GarageBand by Andrew J. Boyle, using the Norwegian folksong ‘I Ola-dalom, i Ola-tjønn’

00:36 Sarpefossen
GarageBand/Andrew J. Boyle

04:10 Ambassador
GarageBand/Andrew J. Boyle

11:10 Stand Together
Andrew J. Boyle

15:10 I Ola-dalom, i Ola-tjønn
Edvard Grieg, op. 66, no. 14

All music performed on GarageBand by Andrew J. Boyle