The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the representative of Norway, Solveig Rossibo, in connection with the refusal of the Norwegian authorities to allow the shipment of goods to Svalbard.
“An unacceptable situation has been declared regarding the delivery of goods to Svalbard, which hinders the work of the state enterprise Arkteogol, which is prohibited by the Norwegian side,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. necessary to ensure the functioning of the Development Fund and the Consulate General of Russia in Svalbard, and we are talking about food, medical equipment, building materials and spare parts for vehicles.
Yesterday, Tuesday, June 28, Oslo rejected a Russian request to deliver goods to villages on Svalbard through the only Storskog checkpoint. In April, Norwegian Foreign Minister Anneken Hötfeldt announced the closure of the checkpoint for trucks coming from Russia, in addition, he did not allow Russian ships, with the exception of fishing boats, to enter local ports.
According to the E24 TV channel, now there are about twenty tons of goods at the checkpoint for the settlements of the archipelago.
Svalbard is located in the Arctic Ocean, and the 1920 treaty established Norwegian sovereignty over this territory, and the signatories of the treaty, including Russia, received equal rights to use the natural resources and territorial waters of the archipelago. In 1947, the Norwegian parliament recognized that the Soviet Union had special economic interests in Svalbard, and since 1991 these rights have been transferred to Russia.
Source: RIA Novosti