The Russian Foreign Ministry expresses concern about spending money and developing infrastructure in Norway’s defense – and will address the issue in Kirkenes Friday.
This is reported by NRK, quoting Reuters news agency. Russia describes the development as “anti-Russian”.
The meeting in Kirkenes on Friday is part of the 75th anniversary of the German occupation’s liberation. King Harald, Prime Minister Erna Solberg (H), Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide (H) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are participating.
– Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov plans to address this issue on Friday, when he meets his Norwegian counterpart in Kirkenes, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in the statement.
Security policy issues
There has been some excitement as to whether the Frode Berg case should receive much attention during the Kirkenes selection. Russia’s play on Thursday may create a new frame when Solberg, Eriksen Søreide and Lavrov participate in Friday’s marquee.
– The Foreign Minister looks forward to the meeting with his Russian colleague. It will have a broad agenda, where it is natural that security policy issues are part of the dialogue, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs writes in an email to NTB.
Burnt earth tactics
The mark in Kirkenes is a reminder of the cruel fate that the locals shared from the fall of 1944 and in the months that followed.
The Nazis employed “the tactics of the burnt earth” and forced tens of thousands to evacuate as they left the area. Occupation forces burned down and almost all of Finnmark and Nord-Troms collapsed.
2,122 Soviet soldiers lost their lives during the offensive.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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