Norwegian Diplomat Summoned Over Seizure of Russian Property

Dragon Media News Desk

Russia has lodged a protest with Norway over the seizure of Russian property, summoning Norway’s chargé d’affaires in Moscow, Bjorn Svenungsen, to the Foreign Ministry.

The ministry said Svenungsen was called in on November 3 and presented with a strong protest over the continued seizure of Russian movable and immovable property in Norway at the request of Ukrainian companies.

The Russian research vessel Professor Molchanov was seized by a Norwegian court on September 2 at the request of Ukraine’s Naftogaz and several other Ukrainian enterprises. The vessel remains in the port of Barentsburg in the Svalbard archipelago, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The ministry said the District Court of Northern Troms and Senja rejected an appeal by the Arktikugol Trust on October 28. Further proceedings could take several months, it added. Moscow said it had warned the Norwegian diplomat that keeping a vessel unsuited to prolonged winter lay-up in the Arctic’s severe weather could cause serious damage and environmental consequences.

Russia called on Norway to comply unconditionally with international law, including the provisions of the Svalbard Treaty. The treaty provides citizens of its parties with freedom of access to the archipelago, and the vessel’s seizure has significantly hindered that access, the ministry said.

The ministry also said Norwegian restrictions on Russia had led to the suspension of flights between Russia and Svalbard. It described the Professor Molchanov as the only means of directly transporting employees of Russian organisations and vital supplies to the archipelago.

Separately, five Russian real estate properties in Oslo were seized under a Norwegian court decision on September 22, the ministry said. Moscow urged Norway to comply with international law, including the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 2004 Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property.

The Russian Foreign Ministry and relevant authorities will seek to have the property seizures lifted, the statement said. Russia’s consul general in Svalbard is providing consular and other assistance to crew members remaining aboard the vessel, it added.