A Russian court in Moscow found retired Norwegian border inspector Frode Berg guilty of espionage on Tuesday, and sentenced him to the full 14-year prison term requested by Russian government prosecutors. Berg has opted against filing an appeal, in the hopes Norwegian authorities will find a way to bring him home. The sentence was harsher […]
‘Foundation laid for more cooperation’
April 10, 2019
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg described her meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday as “good,” adding that it laid a foundation for further cooperation. Putin claimed he wanted to “focus on the positive” aspects of relations between the two countries that share a border in the far north. “We are good neighbours and […]
Accused spy faces 14 years in jail
April 9, 2019
A Russian prosecutor asked a Moscow court to sentence retired Norwegian border inspector Frode Berg to 14 years in prison as his speedy espionage trial wrapped up on Tuesday. Berg stands accused of spying for Norway but claims he was merely an unwitting courier. He’s already been languishing in one of Russia’s most high-security prisons […]
Hopes high before meeting with Putin
April 9, 2019
NEWS ANALYSIS: Norway’s alleged spy on trial in Moscow on Tuesday wasn’t the only thorny issue as Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg prepared to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Tuesday afternoon. Political analysts were hoping for improved relations in general after Solberg landed on Russian soil Monday evening for the first […]
Spy trial begins amidst ‘scandal’
April 2, 2019
Retired Norwegian border inspector Frode Berg was finally getting his day in a Moscow court on Tuesday, while claims of a major military intelligence scandal that landed him there were flying back home. The Norwegian government’s deafening silence over the arrest and espionage charges against Berg has sparked suspicion and criticism, while speculation swirled that […]
Cyber attacks high on defense agenda
March 20, 2019
Norway’s defense minister had the threat of cyber attacks high on his agenda when he met with foreign correspondents in Oslo earlier this week, and that was before news broke of the massive attack on industrial concern Norsk Hydro. Frank Bakke-Jensen referred to cyberspace as the new battleground that potentially poses more challenges than the […]
Russia pretended to attack Vardø radar
February 12, 2019
Russian fighter jets, flying in attack formation, headed straight for the far northern town of Vardø on a winter’s day last year, simulating an attack on the military surveillance radar station based there. They veered away just before entering Norwegian air space, in a move seen as aimed at intimidation. Lt Gen Morten Haga Lunde, […]
‘China and Russia pose biggest threat’
February 11, 2019
Norway’s military intelligence unit (E-tjenesten) delivered its annual evaluation of national security on Monday, and pointed to the same largest threat as the state’s police intelligence unit did last week: spying by foreign countries, with China and Russia as the most active. Lt General Morten Haga Lunde, head of the agency formally known as Etterretnings-tjenesten, […]
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