Norway is to restrict access to its ports for Russian fishing vessels in order to prevent them from circumventing the sanctions placed on Moscow due to the conflict in Ukraine, the country’s government has announced.
“We have closely monitored Russian activity in Norwegian waters and in Norwegian ports to avoid Norway becoming a transit country for transporting goods illegally to Russia,” Norway’s Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt told a press conference.
“We now have information that indicates that there is a need to increase controls of Russian fishing vessels,” she said.
“Russia is more unpredictable and is searching for new ways to avoid the sanctions regime.”
Moving forward, Russian fishing vessels will only be able to call at Kirkenes and Båtsfjord in the Barents Sea and Tromsø in the Norwegian Sea.
Visiting vessels will also be subject to closer customs inspections.
While the main reason was to prevent Russia from circumventing Western sanctions, the decision is also thought to be part of Norway’s increased vigilance of its offshore and coastal oil and gas facilities following four unexplained leaks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea, as well as unidentified drone sightings near some of Norway’s offshore platforms.
Norway, which is now Europe’s biggest supplier of gas, has increased security around its energy infrastructure.
