Page 40 - North Atlantic and Nordic Defense

North European and North Atlantic Defense: The Challenges Return

http://www.russia-direct.org/opinion/what-scandinavias-stance-against-russian-threat-means-kremlin

Next up, time to assert one’s interests against the aggressive Norwegians, for they might launch long boats
and end up in Kiev.

So in a story published by ABC news on April 20, 2015, Russia drops in on disputed territory as if it was their
own.

Russia on Monday dismissed Norway’s protests over a weekend visit to a Norwegian archipelago by a delegation
that included Russia’s deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin.

During a visit to the Arctic on Sunday to inaugurate Russia’s new floating research station, the delegation stopped
by Norway’s Svalbard islands.

Rogozin, who oversees defense in the government among other things and is known for his nationalist views, has
been slapped with sanctions barring him entry to the European Union and non-EU Norway over his position on
Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

Norway demanded that Moscow explain why he visited the islands given the sanctions imposed on him.

In response, Russia’s foreign ministry dismissed the accusations as “absurd” and said that the delegation made the
stop for “logistical reasons”. The ministry also cited a 1920 treaty granting access to the islands to nationals of
all signatory nations including Russia.

http://abcnews.go.com/International

The Norwegian response: Norway will now consider reinforced measures regarding entry to Svalbard.

“From the Norwegian side we will consider reinforced measures concerning entry, also including Svalbard,” Frode
Andersen says to BarentsObserver.

First Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Kalashnikov
questioned Norway’s right to have Svalbard.

The islands are “not fully under Norwegian sovereignty,” he said.

Last year Rogozin become the person who is responsible for Arctic matters. He has been in charge of plans to
reopen Russian military bases in the area.

Figure 13 Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin posted this photo of himself on April 18, 2015. The
photo is taken just outside the terminal building at Longyearbyen airport. (Photo: from Rogozin’s tweet.)
Second Line of Defense

Page 39