The Kremlin’s Manipulation of Norwegian History: Russian Consulate General in Kirkenes Promotes Aggressive Foreign Policy

With local politicians from Norway as invited guests, and surrounded by military-patriotic symbols, the Russian Consulate General in Kirkenes has used Norway as an entry point to support the Kremlin’s views on history , and the aggressive foreign policy he has used to legitimize.

After 2014, the official representative of the Russian state in Northern Norway has gradually used more and more war monuments in the country to convey a military-patriotic statement about the victory of the Red Army and their liberation of the Nazis. The same narrative that the Kremlin uses to justify its military invasion of Ukraine.

The Consulate General has thus made it possible for Russia to present Norway as a support, not only for the Kremlin’s statement in itself, but also for Russia’s fight against the imaginary falsification of history and against what the Kremlin refers to it as neo-Nazis in Ukraine. The most interesting thing, however, is that in this way Norway is taken as a source of income to support Russia’s goal of combating such lies with a policy aggressive foreigner.

May 8 in Norway as Victory Day of the Kremlin

This development has happened quietly and gradually. In this research paper it is recorded how the Consulate General in Kirkenes has progressed in the period 2014-2023. The first step was taken in 2014 when the Consulate General of Norway established Freedom and Veterans Day on May 8 as Norway’s tribute to the victory and liberation of the Red Army, which in Russia is celebrated at a time called Day Influence and which takes place on it. May 9. Although the two anniversaries seem similar on the surface, there are significant differences in their political significance.

In Norway, the day is used to commemorate those who fell in the fight for freedom and independence, and Russia uses the day to display military equipment and patriotism in large parades . The same thing happened again during the commemoration at the Liberation Monument in Kirkenes in 2015, but this time military-patriotic symbols such as St. George’s cuffs were brought into the Norwegian side of the border. In a press release, the memorial was given in memory of the soldiers of the Red Army.

Thus the Consulate General strengthened the understanding of the Norwegian-Russian common war history on the border. He played on strings that were very popular in the North of Norway, where many believed that the Norwegian people did not know much about the war history of the region, but who also believed that there was a historical cooperation with the Russia is essential for good relations between people. More and more, this collaboration meant celebrating it Soviet the war effort, and Norwegian scenes were less important during commemoration.

Signs throughout northern Norway

Over the following years, more and more memorials were recorded and used to convey the same statement that the Kremlin simultaneously expressed to argue for its aggressive foreign policy in Ukraine. Where the Consulate General had taken advantage of invitations to participate Norwegian memories in 2014 and 2015, by 2018 it was now the consul general who invited Norwegian local politicians as guests Russian commemorative markers at war memorials in East Finnmark. As a result of this more use was made of military-patriotic symbols, but it also meant that less space was given to Norwegian scenes.

The expansion of the consulate’s commemoration policy continued to be based on an existing local commitment to war history: in the Kirkenes region it was about playing on the liberation of the Red Army, while in Vardø and Kiberg it was it about partisans from Norway. In May 2020, the Consulate General made what can best be described as a wreath-laying tour from Mo i Rana in the south to Vardø in the north. Almost all Soviet and Russian war memorials throughout Northern Norway were honored with a marker, and the flowers were several times attached to St. George’s arches.

Few Norwegian reactions

The consulate’s next step was to invite official representatives from Norway to Russian memorials across the country. The wreath-laying tours have been held in May every year since 2020, and local politicians from Norway joined the Consul General in ceremonies in several places, including in Bodø, Alstahaug, Mo i Rana , Narvik, Alta, Vardø, Lebesby and Sør-Vranger. Norway’s participation at the heart of Russia was able to portray Norway as supporting the military-patriotic narrative, and the policy it is said must be followed to protect it against concealment.

It remains to be investigated whether the lack of comments on Russia’s recall policy meant that the activities of the Consulate General were supported and committed everywhere on the Norwegian side until February 2022, but there are few good examples. of the Norwegian dissent. An important exception is Defense Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen who, in his speech at the unveiling of a memorial on Sørøya in 2021, emphasized the friendly side of the great war.

Increases conflict

Until February 2022, the Consulate General continued the policy of building an alliance towards Northern Norway. As several war memorials in northern Norway were used to show solidarity with Ukraine after the full-scale Russian invasion, notably at the Liberation Monument in Kirkenes, many there are indications that the Consulate General is now in the process of moving to a more likely recall policy. to the situation in Central and Eastern Europe.

There, war memorials are used to create conflicts.

The wreath war that broke out in connection with the Independence Day celebrations in Kirkenes in October 2023 is a graphic example that Russia has changed tactics, and perhaps a warning of a more controversial use by Russia of war memorials the country in the future.

What should Norway do against the increasingly offensive and controversial Russian memory policy? The first step is to take more ownership of the war memorials in Northern Norway – and the history they are connected to. A stronger anchor of Norwegian perspectives will help separate them from the narrative that the Consulate General has established in them over the past ten years.