How a war has changed a Norwegian town
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 21 September 2023
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Kirkenes, in the far north-east of Norway, once thrived on its close ties with neighbouring Russia. All that changed after the invasion of Ukraine. Now it’s become home to Ukrainian refugees and a safe haven for some Russian journalists escaping President Putin’s media clampdown.
For decades this area popularised the phrase “High North, Low Tension.” Close economic and cultural ties developed with brisk cross-border trade. Hundreds of Russians settled in the town. But now new cross-border restrictions have been imposed and co-operation has ended. The local economy has taken a significant hit and cross-border cultural groups no longer meet. However, despite this being a NATO member, the Norwegian government is keeping the border open. Russian fishing vessels still unload their catch in Kirkenes but are no longer allowed to undergo repairs. The Norwegians have stepped up checks on these Russian boats amid concern of a rise in Russian spying and potential sabotage.
For Assignment, John Murphy travels to Norway’s Arctic to see how war has changed the town and to ask what’s next for this unique community. Presenter: John Murphy Producer: Alex Last Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman Series editor: Penny Murphy
(Image: Kirkenes, in the far north-east of Norway. Credit: BBC)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | LiveSless Ordinary is the podcast from the BBC World Service, bringing you extraordinary |
| 0:05.7 | personal stories from around the globe. |
| 0:08.5 | Search for LiveSless Ordinary wherever you get your BBC podcasts. |
| 0:16.4 | Hi, thanks for listening to the documentary podcast and this episode from the assignment |
| 0:21.4 | team. First, a few introductory facts about Norway. It has just five and a half million people, |
| 0:28.4 | it is Europe's longest country, over 1700 kilometers from northeast to southwest. |
| 0:35.2 | It prides itself on its press freedom, in fact it's usually top-of-the-world rankings, |
| 0:40.4 | and it's a founder member of NATO. And yet it has a 200 kilometer border with Russia. |
| 0:47.7 | The Russian side is pretty militarised, less so on the Norwegian side. |
| 0:52.5 | Non-Norwegian NATO troops aren't allowed close to the border area. |
| 0:57.2 | That's to do with trying to keep tensions low. And the small turn of Kirkenes |
| 1:02.1 | on the Norwegian side is the closest to the border. I first went there eight years ago, |
| 1:08.0 | so why not go back to see what's changed since? |
| 1:15.5 | All right, welcome to Skavrula. |
| 1:18.6 | As you can see, it's the Norwegian border posts and the Russian border posts. |
| 1:23.8 | The yellow one being Norway and the Russian being red and green. |
| 1:27.1 | Yeah, that's correct. And those border posts are all along the border. |
| 1:32.3 | In between those is where the border between the country's lie. |
| 1:37.9 | We're 400 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, in the land of the Midnight Sun, |
| 1:43.1 | in the far northeast of Norway, a NATO member, and right next to its giant neighbour Russia. |
| 1:49.6 | A fascinating fact, at least I think so, is that we're actually further east than Istanbul. |
| 1:56.0 | So does the border go from down here, down the river, and up? |
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