Cold War legacies in Russia’s Svalbard policy - Environmental and Human Security in the Arctic - page 31

suggests that the controversy was related not only to the legal provisions of
the Svalbard Treaty, but more generally that the Norwegian Coast Guard's
actions were perceived as an attempt to undermine Russia's economic inter-
ests in the Svalbard region.
The debate was revived when the Norwegian Coast Guard tried to seize
the Russian trawler 'Elektron' in the FPZ in 2005. With the Norwegian
fishery inspectors still onboard, the Russian vessel made a bolt for its home
waters while being chased by a number of Norwegian Coast Guard vessels
(Åtland and Bruusgaard 2009:339-40). After the trawler's successful escape
from Norwegian enforcement, there were numerous claims in Russia that the
Northern Fleet should take on a more active role in defending the country's
economic interests in the Euro-Arctic region (Solov'ev and Ivanov 2005).
The attempts by certain actors in Russia, particularly within the fishing
industry, to play the 'security' card in connection with Norway's arrests of the
Russian trawlers 'Chernigov' (2001) and 'Elektron' (2005) represented the
culmination of an almost 30-year conflict over the legal status of the FPZ.
Since then, things seem to have calmed down. Those in control of Russia's
primary military muscle in the Euro-Arctic region - the Northern Fleet -
appear to have a genuine interest in maintaining political stability in the
region, and, as illustrated during the 'Elektron' incident, they are reluctant to
intervene militarily on behalf of Russian fishing vessels in the zone. Despite
its reservations, Russia does not want the current management regime to
collapse, since this could lead to a radical increase in the number of third-
country fishing vessels in the FPZ. The underlying issue is still unresolved
and unlikely to become fully resolved, at least in the foreseeable future. But
Norway has at least managed to increase Russia's awareness about - and com-
mitment to addressing - the problem of illegal, unregulated and unreported
(IUU) fishing in northern waters. Consequently, this has contributed to a
softening of the Russian rhetoric and a toning down of the 'national security'
dimension of the issue.
Conclusions
The end of the Cold War, the fall of communism and the disintegration of
the Soviet empire are often portrayed as watershed events that came to change
the security dynamics on both sides of what was once the Iron Curtain. As
this study has shown, it takes time and effort to overcome the legacy of fear,
mistrust and suspicion. NATO is still seen as Russia's primary security chal-
lenge, and East-West relations in the European Arctic are still marked by a
relatively high level of 'securitiness'. Attempts to change the situation have
often been perceived as representing a threat to Russia's security and eco-
nomic interests in the region.
Based on the foregoing attempt to explore on a case-by-case basis how and
why three Svalbard-related issues were placed, or at least attempted to be