Russian Diplomat Changes Date of VE Commemoration on Svalbard but Not Moscow’s Message

Paul Goble

    Staunton, May 9 – Andrey Chemerilo, Russian consul general on Norway’s Svalbard, marked VE Day on May 8 with a speech and two small gatherings, as Western countries do, rather than on May 9, as Moscow does, but did not change Moscow’s messages about the meaning of that holiday not only for Russians but for the entire world.

    The change in date likely means less than it might seem given that the head of the largest Russian company on the Norwegian archipelago organized a larger and noiser demonstration than the one the diplomat had, and both made it clear that such memorials were about mobilizing what they called “anti-fascist” efforts now.

    The Barents Observer covered both events and added a commentary from a Norwegian expert on Russia’s actions (thebarentsobserver.com/news/putins-man-in-svalbard-moves-victory-day-celebration-to-western-standard/429496 and thebarentsobserver.com/news/militarized-memory-kremlinorchestrated-immortal-regiment-rally-on-svalbard/429583).

    Kari Aga Myklebost with UiT The Arctic University of Norway said that “these Kremlin-orchestrated propaganda events are the result of an increasingly ideologized Russian public sphere and Moscow’s desperate need to showcase popular support for the brutal warfare in Ukraine.”

    He said that he believes these events were staged on Svalbard to provoke a reaction from Oslo and are likely to “be used as pretext to accuse Norway of Russophobia and discriminating against Russians … deliberately making use of the freedom of expression and assembly in Norway to promote its militaristic and revanchist policies.”
    For background on Svalbard and Russia’s moves there in recent years to exploit its unusual status, see jamestown.org/program/moscow-warns-oslo-on-svalbard-but-suggests-deal-with-united-states-on-arctic/ and jamestown.org/program/moscows-first-move-against-nato-could-take-place-in-norways-svalbard-archipelago/.