Norway's Arctic, the new scene of the "Cold War" between Russia and Ukraine

2024-06-02 20:10:28, Kosova & Bota CNA

Norway's Arctic, the new scene of the "Cold War" between Russia

Norway's Svalbard region is a visa-free zone for anyone who wants to live there. But war tensions between Russia and Ukraine are making the region difficult to live in for many, and some are leaving. Voice of America correspondent Henry Wilkins reports from the city of Barentsburg that Ukrainians have been forced to leave this region after the beginning of Russian aggression in Ukraine after finding themselves in conflict with the Russian community.

Barentsburg is a coal mining town. Russian flags and Soviet-era artwork, such as a bust of Lenin, are commonplace in this Arctic area. But the city of Barentsburg is located in Norway.

Barentsburg is located in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, more than 600 kilometers north of mainland Norway. Because of the unusual legal status of the island basin, people from any country in the world can settle there. Most of the approximately 400 inhabitants of this town are Russians and Ukrainians. But that changed in 2022, when most Ukrainians left.

Ukrainian Katerina Shabratska left Barentsburg before the Russian aggression in Ukraine in 2022. She now lives in Longyearbyen, the main Norwegian settlement in Svalbard. Many Ukrainians moved from Barentsburg to Longyearbyen after the start of the full-scale war.

"The year 2022 changed everything. Ukrainians didn't want to live there anymore, because there were many problems in 2022. The rivalry was sensitive and I didn't want to talk to Russians anymore," says Ukrainian Katerina Shabratska.

She says tensions in Barentsburg began before 2022. Some Russians and Ukrainians had settled there a year earlier.

"They moved to 2021 because it wasn't such a good situation because of Navalny," says Katerina.

Russian opposition politician and anti-corruption activist Alexey Navalny was arrested shortly after returning to Moscow from exile in 2021. He died in February in a remote Arctic prison.

Locals say many people in Barentsburg were vocal supporters of the opposition Navalny, while others were supporters of Putin, causing tensions to rise.

Members of the Russian community in Longyearbyen told VOA they are afraid to talk about the situation, as they still have family in Russia. The Russian special consul in Barentsburg declined a VOA request for an interview.

Norwegians say relations between the Norwegian and Russian settlements on the island have historically been good, even during the Cold War. But that changed in 2022, when joint cultural events and business ties between the cities of Barentsburg and Longyearbyen were cut off.

VOA spoke with Longyearbyen resident Ronny Brunvoll.

"The Cold War was not a large-scale battle, with killing and destruction. What we see now in Europe did not happen during the Cold War. This large-scale war is causing casualties and is really affecting the people here."

Katerina Shabratska says she and the rest of the community of about 40 Ukrainians in the town of Longyearbyen do what they can to raise money to help Ukraine.

"We have organized lunches, dinners, and a big concert here. And we are working together", says Katerina.

The Treaty of Svalbard, almost a century ago, established Norway's sovereignty over these islands in the Arctic, making it possible to live there for all who want, without the need for visas and prohibiting military activity.

There have been no open hostilities between Russians and Ukrainians in that region. But Russian aggression in Ukraine has caused tensions that somewhat resemble the Cold War, and a new iron curtain has emerged between the two communities that inhabit Svalbard./ VOA