‘Historic’ pact yields ‘huge’ promise

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s state visit was being called “historic” as it wound down on Tuesday, as was the surprise settlement of a longtime border dispute in the Barents and Arctic seas. The new agreement can lead to “huge” new “possibilities” in the northern areas, claimed Norway’s cabinet minister for business and trade. The agreement [...]

Packed program for visiting Russians

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s day began early and ended late on Monday, as his state visit included a string of both festive and somber appearances and, finally, a gala state dinner at the Royal Palace in Oslo. His wife Svetlana had a program of her own, with Queen Sonja as escort. The two women spoke [...]

Norway and Russia divvy up Barents

A 40-year border dispute in the Barents Sea was resolved on Tuesday, when Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced they’d agreed on where the line should run between their two countries. Stoltenberg called it “an historic day” for both Norway and Russia. It had been expected the two leaders would continue [...]

Leaders got down to business

After a day of ceremony and smiles on Monday, Russia’s president and Norway’s prime minister were sitting down for political talks Tuesday morning. Norwegian officials insisted that human rights and environmental issues were on the agenda, as protestors took them up outdoors. The first day of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s state visit was characterized by [...]

Royal pomp greets Medvedev in Oslo

King Harald V and Queen Sonja greeted Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his wife Svetlana with all the pageantry accorded heads of state on Monday. Oslo’s Royal Palace was Medvedev’s first stop on his official visit to Norway. A 21-gun salute was fired from the historic Akershus Fortress as Medvedev’s long motorcade from the airport [...]

Russia’s president lands in Norway

The sun peeked out just as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s jet landed safely on Norwegian soil Monday morning. Crown Prince Haakon was the first to wish Medvedev welcome, as his two-day state visit got underway. It’s Norway’s first state visit from a Russian president in 16 years. After nearly two weeks of  flight disruptions caused [...]

Oslo ready for Russia’s president

Norway was ready to roll out the red carpet for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday. Business cooperation and border issues in the Barents Sea topped the agenda for Medvedev’s two-day official visit. Concerns continued that ash clouds from Iceland’s unpredictable volcano would disrupt Medvedev’s trip to Oslo. Like everyone else, the Russian president has [...]

Russian president to visit Oslo

Dmitry Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation, is scheduled to arrive in Oslo on Monday April 26 for a two-day official visit, reports newspaper Aftenposten. His program isn’t finalized, but his stay is expected to feature all the pomp and pageantry of a state visit. The Foreign Ministry confirmed earlier this year that Medvedev would [...]

Foreign Minister talks tough in Russia

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told his Russian counterpart in Moscow this week that Norway is worried about repeated violations of human rights in Russia. The Norwegian foreign ministry used an unusually “tough tone” in his talks with Sergei Lavrov. Norway is keen to maintain good relations with its giant neighbor to the east, [...]

Russians boost flights off Norway

Not since the days of the Cold War have Norwegian military officials recorded so many flights near Norwegian territory by their Russian counterparts. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported on Tuesday that the Russians have resumed “strategic” sorties along the Norwegian coast and over the Norwegian Sea. “We see that the Russians have taken up strategic flights [...]

Russia keeps out human rights workers

Three workers for the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, which promotes human rights, recently have been denied entry into Russia. The committee is seeking more support from Norway’s Foreign Ministry as it protests closed borders in both Russia and other former Soviet republics. Bjørn Engesland, secretary general of the committee that’s one of 44 such human rights [...]

Stock soars after Telenor truce

A bitter five-year legal battle between Norwegian telecoms firm Telenor and the Russian Alfa group has finally ended. Both sides agreed to drop all their lawsuits against each other and merge their shares in VimpelCom and Kyvistar to form a new firm with vastly reduced risk for future conflicts. Telenor’s stock soared on the news. [...]

Chechnyan peace talks in Oslo

Neither the Norwegian nor Russian governments are formally involved, but top representatives for the ruling Chechnyan government and its exiled opposition are in Oslo for talks aimed at reconciliation. The organizer of the meetings calls them “historic.” Newspaper Aftenposten reported Wednesday that Chechnya’s two leading rival factions are negotiating a political solution for the long-troubled [...]

Telenor faces 'real threat' in Russia

Norwegian telecoms firm Telenor was dealt another severe blow just before the weekend, when a Siberian court official said he’d been ordered to start selling off Telenor’s major stake in Russian mobile phone firm VimpelCom on Monday. The forced sale, which Telenor has been fighting, could mean huge losses for Telenor and the Norwegian state, [...]

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