Russian miners on Spitsbergen are supplied via a detour

Norway and Russia last week resolved a two-month conflict over supplies to Russian miners in Spitsbergen. The northern archipelago is part of a unique geopolitical situation. How about that?

1 What was the reason for the Norwegian-Russian quarrel?

Until last week, Norway refused to allow essential goods such as food and medicines destined for Spitsbergen to pass through from Russia. The archipelago in the Arctic Ocean is home to a Russian mining colony in the village of Barentsburg. If the border dispute had lasted any longer, a humanitarian crisis could threaten the 400 people who live and work in the settlement, the Russian embassy and director Alexander Veselov of the mining company Trust Arktikugol warned in a letter on May 25.

Supplies came to a halt in late April when Norway closed seaports and land borders to Russian freight traffic as part of the fifth European sanctions package following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Moscow accused the Norwegians of violating the 2010 treaty on maritime cooperation in the Barents and Arctic Seas, ending a 40-year conflict.

The Norwegian government denied that it was not granting Russia access to Spitsbergen, but merely complying with EU sanctions against Russia. In its own words, it did not stop goods coming in by boat, as required by the treaty. But supplies to Barentsburg largely first cross the Russian-Norwegian border before being transported by sea from Norway to Spitsbergen. And there Norway does apply the EU sanctions, so that the containers remained at the border.

2 Whose does Spitsbergen belong to?

Spitsbergen is located about seven hundred kilometers north of Norway and is not officially part of that country, but after the Treaty of Spitsbergen it has been under Norwegian government for a hundred years. Countries that are party to that treaty can carry out non-military activities there. The treaty was originally concluded between nine countries, including the Netherlands. Thirty other countries have joined the treaty since then. Today only Norway and Russia are economically active on the archipelago.

Barentsburg is the main Russian settlement on Spitsbergen, bought in 1932 by the Soviet Union from the Netherlands. Of the 400 inhabitants, an estimated 150 are Russian. The rest are Ukrainian from the Donbas region.

The Netherlands has a rich history in the Arctic. Cartographer Willem Barentsz discovered Spitsbergen in 1596 when he was looking for a ‘northeast passage to the east’. Shortly afterwards, the massive Dutch whaling industry got underway. It was active there for two centuries and was one of the reasons that a number of large whale species were almost wiped out.

3 How was the dispute between the two countries resolved?

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement last week that Russian containers can still reach the island using Norwegian ships and vehicles. In this way, international sanctions are circumvented.

Although Moscow threatened retaliation, Norway said it had “good dialogue” with the Russian side during the conflict. “It is positive that a solution has now been found,” said the Norwegian ministry.