Moscow has conducted numerous hybrid operations and provocations on Svalbard, says Stian Bones. The history professor at the UiT Arctic University of Norway talks with the Barents Observer about his new publication about the Norwegian Arctic archipelago.
Svalbard is important for Russia because of its location at the gateway to the Barents Sea and the proximity to the Northern Fleet’s bases on the Kola Peninsula, Bones explains in this podcast.
Svalbard also has significance for Moscow because of the fisheries. It also wants to monitor Norway’s communications and satellite activities on the archipelago. In addition, Russia has a long tradition and a strong history there, the professor says. […]
Among the approaches actively applied by Moscow is so-called ’bilateralization.’
”It’s not unusual that great powers that have smaller neighbouring countries in their vicinity, that they want to try and dominate or influence them. One aspect and one way of doing that is to try and tie up the smaller country in bilateral discussions on certain issues, not allowing them room for maneuver, but try and lock them in in a political process. I think that is what the Soviet Union and Russia also have been trying to do with regards to Norway and Norway-Svalbard politics, but has not really been successful in much of that.” Läs artikel