Newsletter: From Cheers in the South to Deafening Silence in the North
US Minister of Foreign Affairs Antony Blinken is currently traveling around the Nordic region. (Photo: Chuck Kennedy/the US Department of State)
Dear reader. Another week is characterized by the tense security policy situation in the Arctic. Furthermore, the visit to Norway by the world's largest warship shows the major contrasts between north and south. Here is the week as seen from the north.
When the world's largest warship, the USS Gerald R. Ford, sailed into the Oslo Fjord last week, it was like Christmas and the 4th of July at the same time in Norway. However, after the ship made its way out of the south, allegedly on its way north, there has been an almost deafening silence from the warship.
If the Norwegian Armed Forces know where the American aircraft carrier is headed, they are not saying anything.
Our Editor-in-Chief took matters into his own hands and headed out to look for Gerald R. Ford under his own operation.
At about the same time as the American giant docks in Oslo, a number of events took place which affect the security situation in the north.
The Faroe Islands extends port ban for Russian vessels, the US announces that they will establish a diplomatic office in Tromsø, Northern Norway (Norwegian) during the MFA's visit in the north, and Moscow revokes authorization for Finland's Consulate General (Norwegian).
HNN can also report a whopping 19 naval and air exercises in May by the Northern Fleet. (Norwegian)
Denmark presented a defense agreement with a proposed investment of DKK 143 billion over the next ten years. The investment aims to strengthen Defense in the Arctic and the Baltic Sea.
But the High North is more than security policy.
This week, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presented the report they have worked on for five years. The commission leader says that the hour of reckoning has come.
Read about this and more at High North News.
I wish you a wonderful June weekend and please feel free to share the newsletter with other interested parties.
News Editor, Trine Jonassen
This newsletter has been translated by Birgitte Annie Molid Martinussen.