The Norwegian government gave permission to the Russian research vessel Akademik Mstislav Keldysh to examine sediment off the coast of northern Norway. The voyage has roiled Norwegian domestic politics. WIKIPEDIA
THE WATCH STAFF
Norway’s approval of a research voyage by a Russian ship off its northern coast has caused domestic concerns over national security interests. But government officials and experts say that the Norwegian authorities are closely monitoring the scientific vessel, which Norway must allow in accordance with international maritime laws.
The green light given by the Norwegian government for the voyage of the Russian vessel Akademik Mstislav Keldysh off the coast of Finnmark to research sediments on the country’s continental shelf allowed the ship to travel into Norwegian waters between November 4, 2023, and December 18, 2023, according to the High North News, a Norwegian newspaper, and Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Russia’s increasingly aggressive behavior in the Arctic has concerned Norwegian military and government officials in recent years. In September, Norway further tightened sanctions against Russia by banning the importation of some Russian cars into the country in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to a September 30, 2023, statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Norway stands together with allies and like-minded countries in response to the brutal war of aggression that Russia is waging against Ukraine. It is crucial that the sanctions are effective in order to prevent income that the Russian state needs to finance the war,” wrote then-Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt.
The Russian vessel’s voyage is in an area with two oil and gas fields.
The research mission’s approval has angered the political opposition in the country. The Progress Party asked the current Foreign Affairs Minister, Espen Barth Eide, to explain the government’s decision.
In an October 20, 2023, response, Barth Eide said the government “is fully aware of the threat situation in the North and is vigilantly following Russian activity,” according to the High North News.
Eide said Norway, under the law of the sea, must usually consent to research expeditions outside territorial waters, including the country’s exclusive economic zone and on the continental shelf.
“All foreign applications for scientific marine research are processed in line with Norway’s obligations under the law of the sea. A coastal state can refuse marine research expeditions within territorial waters, i.e., up to 12 nautical miles from the baselines along the coast,” Barth Eide wrote.
“For example, if it is not really a question of pure scientific research but of exploiting or mapping resources. The limited opportunity we have to refuse scientific marine research must be seen in the context that the economic zone and continental shelf are not part of the territory of Norway but an area of the sea where Norway has certain rights. Beyond this, the freedom to navigate applies,” said Barth Eide, adding that the ministry has approved five marine research voyages in 2023.
A Danish researcher wrote an op-ed in April 2023 warning of Russian marine research activities often being a screen for mapping and other data collection that could be used for military purposes.
Christian Bueger of the University of Copenhagen said NATO and the European Union have rolled out plans to thwart such a threat, but more needs to be done to protect Nordic nations’ national security interests.
“We have known for a long time that Russian forces are mapping maritime infrastructures, including wind farms, communication cables and pipelines. Indeed, back in the 1990s and 2000s, when NATO and Russia were cooperating on some security issues, Russian spying activities in Nordic waters never stopped,” Bueger wrote in April 2023, according to United Press International.
Research applications like the recent Russian request are vetted by the Norwegian military. Research data must be shared, in line with the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“We thus get a good overview of the purpose and activity of the Russian research expeditions,” wrote Barth Eide.
Norway knows it must walk an international tightrope with Russian activities in the Arctic. Yet Minister Barth Eide seems confident in the government’s ability to maintain security while upholding international rules and norms.
He continued, “It is well known that initially legal activity can be used for purposes that can damage our national security. This is what the Norwegian governing authorities — the Armed Forces, the National Intelligence Service, and the Police — are working to prevent. At the same time, it is in Norway’s interest to maintain respect for the law of the sea and other international law.”