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Norway asks Moscow to explain visit from banned minister
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(3 days later)
Norway has sought an explanation from Moscow for a visit to a Norwegian island by Russia’s deputy prime minister, who is banned from Norway under international sanctions against him over Ukraine.
This could be because it launched early, our rights have expired, there was a legal issue, or for another reason.
The EU and US imposed sanctions on a number of Russians, including Dmitry Rogozin after Russia annexed Crimea last year. Norway also adopted the sanctions, although it is not an EU member.
“We have earlier this spring clearly expressed to the Russian embassy in Oslo that people on the list are not wanted in Svalbard. It is therefore regrettable that Rogozin has been on Svalbard,” a spokesman from Norway’s foreign ministry said.
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A representative of Rogozin declined to comment.
On Saturday Rogozin posted pictures on Twitter and Facebook of himself in front of a signpost for Svalbard airport in the Norwegian island’s main settlement of Longyearbyen.
“We arrived in Longyearbyen in Spitsbergen,” he wrote in one post.
Norway has asked for an explanation from the Russian authorities and will consider reinforcing entry procedures, including on Svalbard, the foreign ministry’s spokesman said.
According to Rogozin’s Twitter account he visited the village of Barentsburg, a Russian mining town left over from the days of the Soviet Union, before heading for the north pole.
The Svalbard islands are governed by a unique treaty, which grants Norway sovereignty, but signatories, including Russia, retain equal rights to residence and commercial activities.
