Conflicts around Mining in the High North of Norway and Sweden

The Barents Observer has just published another deeply-reported article on conflicts between the Scandinavian states and mining interests in the north of Sweden and Norway and environmental groups and Sámi reindeer herders, as well as other concerned citizens who live in those areas. 

The journalists focus particularly on the strongly opposed Nussir Copper Mine near the Repparfjord in Norway and the Per Geijer deposit in Kiruna, near the current iron ore mines run by LKAB. The new deposit is projected to supply Europe with not just ore but rare earth elements. Many already know that the city of Kiruna was forced to move from its historic site by the LKAB mine. Further mining may well cause another move, as well as impacting the grazing lands traditionally held by the Gabna siida's reindeer herds. 

 

 

Over the Border to Asylum in Norway: Russian Sami Andrei Danilov's story

 

Andrei Danilov  Photo: Thomas Nilsen

The always interesting Barents Observer, which covers politics and life in the European Arctic, has this story today on Andrei Danilov. Born in Lovozero, the main  Sámi settlement in Russia's Kola Peninsula, Danilov fled Russia for Norway in February, 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. He is currently seeking asylum in order to stay in Norway. 

 For the past thirty years, the Russian Sámi have been part of the Sámi Council representing all Sámi in the four countries, Russia, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Now that cooperation has been suspended, in part due to the fact that some of Sámi on the Russian side are actively supporting Putin's actions. 

I found this development distressing to read about, given how harshly the Sámi themselves have been treated by the Russian state, and how meaningful it's been for the Sámi in every part of Sápmi to be able to connect and work together.

Several other cross-border long-term cooperations are also being suspended in the face of the continuing war in Ukraine, as reported by High North News. They include The Norwegian Barents Secretariat and  Barents Press International, "a network for journalists and editors in the Barents region in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. The network was founded after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the start of the 1990s."