Moscow's diplomats ask Oslo to stop anti-war protesters
The Norwegian Foreign Ministry answers that such protests are something the Russian diplomats will have to live with.
Protesters around the world have since 2014 regularly gathered outside Russian embassies to demand that troops withdraw from Ukraine. After 2022, this has also included Kirkenes, the Norwegian border town where Moscow has one of the last Consulate Generals in northern Europe still at work.
The diplomats, however, are dissatisfied with the protesters that from time to time show up with Ukrainian flags across the street. A portable loudspeaker is used to play "The glory and will of Ukraine has not yet perished," the national anthem of the country.
Meanwhile, Russian missiles are targeting residential areas and energy infrastructure, leaving millions people cut off from electricity, heating and water supplies in times of extremely harsh winter conditions.
The iFinnmark newspaper was first to report about the note of complain sent by the Russian Embassy to Norway's Foreign Ministry on behalf of the Consulate General in Kirkenes.
The reply they got was straight-forward:
"Strong protection of freedom of expression in Norway means that Russian foreign missions must live with opinions being expressed about the Russian Federation, including its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, in public spaces, even where these opinions are expressed loudly."
The Foreign Ministry emphasises that local police will continuously assess whether demonstrations are within the framework of freedom of expression, or whether they cross the line into criminal behaviour.
No one has ever been detained for vandalism or threats against the Consulate in Kirkenes.
Moscow's representatives in Norway point to Article 22 in the Vienna convention which states that the premises of a diplomatic mission are inviolable. It further makes clear that the host country has a special obligation to take all appropriate measures to protect the mission premises against intrusion, damage, or any breach of peace and dignity.
Professor of Russian history, Kari Aga Myklebost at UiT The Arctic University of Norway is not surprised by the message sent to the Foreign Ministry.
"The Russian General Consulate has increasingly been staging itself as 'under threat' over the last years," she explains.
"At the same time, it is covertly orchestrating various provocations in Kirkenes to induce tensions in local society and add to this illusion of 'threats' and Russophobia. Such tactics from the Russian foreign service are well-known from elsewhere in Europe, aiming to shape the information domain in ways favourable to Moscow," the professor explains.
The yellow consulate building across the street from the Mayor's office is the only one in town that has iron bars on all ground floor windows.
Myklebost elaborates on how the General Consulate has for more than a decade exerted pressure on local and regional opinion in Northern Norway, an area of high strategic importance to Moscow.
"In today’s security situation, it is obvious that the activities of the Consulate General directly challenge Norwegian security interests. The diplomatic mission was established in the early 1990s to facilitate cross-border cooperation. This era is long gone and, for all practical purposes as well as from a Norwegian security perspective, the presence of the Russian foreign service in Norway should be limited to the Russian Embassy in Oslo," Kari Aga Myklebost concludes.
