Moscow appoints Nikolai Korchunov new ambassador to Norway
The Russian top diplomat comes from the post as Ambassador at large for Arctic affairs. He has previously served in Brussels, Stockholm and Helsinki.
The 60 year old Korchunov takes over the post from Teymuraz Ramishvili, who has headed the diplomatic mission in Norway since 2016.
Korchunov has worked with the Arctic since 2015 and headed the Russian delegation at the Arctic Council since 2018. He has been numerous times in Norway and is a well-known person in the Norwegian foreign affairs establishment.
In the period 2009-2015 he served as deputy head of the Russian delegation to NATO in Brussels. Between 1991-2005 he held posts in Helsinki and Stockholm.
His appointment to Oslo was signed by Vladimir Putin on the 1st of October.
Korchunov replaces Teymuraz Ramishvili, the outspoken hardline diplomat that has headed the Russian embassy in Oslo since 2016. On 23rd of February 2023, the day before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ramishvili was in Kirkenes, the Norwegian border town, where he laid down flowers on a Russian war memorial.
During the service of Ramishvili in Norway, Russian security services are believed to have significantly boosted their activities in the Nordic country. According to Norwegian intelligence reports, Russian saboteurs pose an increasingly growing threat to Norwegian infrastructure.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: New military sleeping bags not suitable for ‘typical Canadian winter’: Canadian Army, CBC News
Denmark: Denmark’s Arctic, North Atlantic focus: Canada among new defence attaché posts, Eye on the Arctic
Finland: NATO to set up northern land command in eastern Finland, Reuters
Iceland: RAF Squadron begins NATO airspace patrols in Iceland, Eye on the Arctic
Norway: Military experts suspect sabotage at Andøya in Arctic Norway, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: Murmansk region of Arctic Russia targeted in drone attack, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Sweden will lead NATO troops in northern Finland, The Independent Barents Observer
United States: U.S. Coast Guard watching uptick in Russian, Chinese navy activity near Alaska, Reuters
