Norwegian MP says Russia’s “police” car on Svalbard should be repainted or removed

Erlend Larsen, Conservative Party MP, says a car in Barentsburg that looks like a Russian police vehicle should be repainted or taken off Svalbard. He told the Barents Observer that no vehicle on the archipelago should be open to mistaken identity as a Russian police car, even when its licence plates are gone. He added that leaving the car in place would be a provocation from the Russian side. Norway must keep watching what happens to it, he said.

The car was brought to Svalbard by Ildar Neverov, director of Trust Arktikugol (Russia's state-owned company on Svalbard), and driven around Barentsburg. Section 165 of Norway's Criminal Code prohibits foreign marks or designs that claim to be a public authority or could easily be taken for one. The paper says Russians in Barentsburg see the car as clearly looking like law enforcement.

Larsen cited the Barents Observer's earlier report and put a question in writing to the justice minister about how the case will be handled. Astri Aas-Hansen, the Minister of Justice and Public Security, answered that every vehicle on Svalbard has to follow Norwegian regulations, whoever owns it. She noted that in July Sysselmesteren (the Governor of Svalbard) had the Russian license plates taken off. A recent photo that Arktikugol put on VKontakte, however, shows the same car on Barentsburg roads after July. That would mean illegal driving, unless the company has only been pushing it around. Arktikugol has not answered the newspaper's questions about the car.

Kari Aga Myklebost, professor of Russian history at UiT, has said Arktikugol is deliberately creating a grey zone situation to provoke reactions and test how Norwegian authorities respond. She said one can argue that no law is broken, while the limits of Norwegian rules are plainly being tested.

Norwegian sovereignty over Svalbard is not disputed. The 1920 Treaty lets citizens of all signatory countries, Russia included, carry out economic activity on the archipelago. They must obey Norwegian law. The Barents Observer writes that Moscow has in recent years loudly voiced disagreement with Oslo about how to interpret the treaty. It writes that Moscow generally follows rules and norms.