Tromsø Municipality in Northern Norway has, almost without discussion, decided to break its friendship agreements with three Russian cities. They do it, says Mayor Gunnar Wilhelmsen, to mark the gravity of the situation. At the same time, he encourages other Northern Norwegian cities to do the same.
While the collective Western sanctions against Russia has the overarching aim of affecting the regime, Northern Norwegian municipalities are stepping forward to mark their distance to what is first and foremost people-to-people cooperation between Norway and Russia. […]
The cooperation between educational and cultural institutions is sanctioned, but the cooperation between researchers and artists is maintained. There is a clear divide that allows us to support Russian oppositionists while simultaneously giving us the opportunity, as democracies, to argue for our values in the meeting with a censored and nationalist reality on the other side of the border. Läs artikel