An increasingly difficult relationship

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The Russian military has blocked GPS signals that are absolutely necessary for Norwegian air transport. This is also not the first time the Storting has been an arena. Two years ago, a Russian was arrested for suspicious behavior in the Storting. The suspicions of espionage were soon dispelled, however, and the man was released. It was an embarrassing affair for the Norwegian authorities, and one must assume that the threshold for accusing Russia again of snooping among our elected representatives is high.

In addition, has the Norwegian university center in St. Petersburg had to close after repeated raids by Russian security police. In recent years, both NATO and Russia have also had the largest naval exercises in the High North since the Cold War.

At the top, of course, is the espionage case with former border inspector Frode Berg, who was arrested while on a mission for Norwegian intelligence in Russia. That case ended quite obviously with making it clear to the whole world that Norwegian intelligence is also actively working against interests on the Russian side of the border.

There are not many the years since relations between Norway and Russia were historically good. The agreement on the dividing line in the Barents Sea in 2010 marked the highlight of this period. Nevertheless, co-operation between the Norwegian and Russian authorities has also been stable and fairly good in many areas for several decades, with the management of fisheries resources across the border as a particularly successful example.

Especially in the north, cooperation, travel and trade have developed strongly after the Cold War. The neighborhood has been a resource, also for Norway. It has added a new dimension to the region.

It is in this tension that the Norwegian-Russian relationship now stands: Between an increasing flow of security policy conflicts, and the need and desire to preserve as much as possible of the fruitfulness of the co-operation that has been achieved.

If one reads literature on the relationship between Norway and Russia, one gets the impression that on the Russian side much emphasis is placed on our historical relationship. Which has been good. Norway is the only country Russia borders, with which it has never been at war. The Soviet liberation of northern Norway was of a completely different nature than the corresponding “liberation” of Eastern Europe. While we were actually liberated by a friendly neighbor, the Soviet entry into Eastern Europe was marked by systematic looting and war crimes – before those known to settle there for decades afterwards, politically and / or militarily.

Now we know for now no more than that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs accuses Russia of being behind the hacker attack in the Storting. If true, it goes into a pattern we know from, among other things, attacks on the Democratic Party in the US ahead of the 2016 election. Russia is also accused of trying to exert influence in front of a number of elections in Europe in recent years. The Storting has said that the attack on the email accounts has potentially led to a leak of sensitive material. It can be anything from communication that puts political actors in a bad light, to classified material. Of course, anything can potentially be used to try to manipulate people or the public. And next year there will be parliamentary elections in Norway.

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