Thomas Nilsen Explained

Thomas Nilsen (born 29 August 1968) is a Norwegian journalist who has extensively covered oil drilling in the Arctic region.[1] He was editor of the BarentsObserver, a Norwegian Arctic online newspaper based in Kirkenes, for six years before he was sacked in 2015.[2] [3] Norway’s public service broadcaster, NRK, claim Nilsen was sacked at the behest of the Russian intelligence service, the FSB.[4]

Life and work

Nilsen studied at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology[5] in Trondheim, Norway.

He has been an environmental campaigner and guide for adventure tours.[6]

He worked for 12 years for the Bellona Foundation's Russian study group, focusing on nuclear safety issues and other environmental challenges in northern areas including the Arctic. In 1996 he cowrote The Russian Northern Fleet: Sources of Radioactive Contamination with Igor Kudrik and Alexander Nikitin, a report on the environmental hazards of disused and decaying nuclear-powered submarines of the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet.[7]

Beginning in 2003, Nilsen worked for thirteen years for the Norwegian Barents Secretariat (NBS), a "local government body that promotes good relations with Russia in a region where the two nations cooperate and compete over fishing, oil and military strategy". From 2003 to 2009 he was its information officer and deputy head. From 2009 to 2015 he was editor of the BarentsObserver, a Norwegian Arctic online newspaper based in Kirkenes, published by NBS. Kirkenes is in the extreme northeastern part of Norway, on the edge of a vast bay connected to the Barents Sea, near the Russian–Norwegian border. The town is about north of the Arctic Circle. According to the BBC it is a "tiny bubble of cross-border friendship in a Nato country".

In 2014 Mikhail Noskov, the Russian consul-general (Russian government representative in Norway) who was also based in Kirkenes, criticised Nilsen’s writing and warned that it might damage relations between Russia and Norway.[8] On 28 September 2015 Nilsen was sacked from his position as editor. Norway’s public service broadcaster, NRK, has claimed he was sacked at the behest of the Russian intelligence service, the FSB.

Publications

See also

Notes

  1. News: Russian intelligence accused of silencing Norwegian newspaper editor. 6 November 2015 . 12 November 2015 . karl . Mathiesen . . London .
  2. News: Owners fire BarentsObserver editor. 28 September 2015 . 12 November 2015 . Atle . Staalesen . . BarentsObserver .
  3. Web site: Norway and Russia: An Arctic friendship under threat. 12 November 2015 . .
  4. News: Kilde til NRK: – Russisk etterretning ba Norge om å bringe BarentsObserver til taushet. 3 October 2015 . 12 November 2015 . Tormod . Strand . .
  5. Web site: Thomas Nilsen. 12 November 2015 . BarentsObserver .
  6. News: Has the Kremlin been meddling with its Arctic friends?. 12 November 2015 . 12 November 2015 . Tim . Whewell . Tim Whewell . .
  7. Web site: The Russian Northern Fleet: Sources of Radioactive contamination. 13 November 2015 . . 26 February 1996 .
  8. Web site: Neinei, hva mener du? Ukrainerne dro frivillig. 28 April 2014 . 12 November 2015 . IFinnmark .
  9. The full text of the report can be read here at the St. Petersburg Open Network, and a version in PDF format can be read here at the International Atomic Energy Agency site.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Thomas Nilsen".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.