Authors

Kari Aga Myklebost²; Stian Bones²; Kristian Gjerde¹;  ¹ Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Norway;  ² UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway

Discussion

This paper explores the development of the joint Norwegian-Russian commemorations of the Red Army Liberation of Eastern Finnmark throughout the post-Soviet period, based on archival materials from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairsa and other state departments, municipalities and counties in Norway, as well as Russian and Norwegian media reports. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, CEE states have increasingly opposed the Russian official narrative of WWII, engaging in memory wars with Russia. In northernmost Europe, however, the Norwegian-Russian borderland has been characterized by memory diplomacy with high-level state representation in joint commemorative celebrations conducted regularly throughout the post-Soviet period. Since 2014, Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine has changed the setting for memory diplomacy between Norway and Russia, with growing tensions around the commemorative events. The paper analyses the role of memory diplomacy as part of Norwegian-Russian bilateral relations, exploring politics, mutual images and narratives between Norway and Russia in conjunction with the commemorative events and the transformations of these throughout the post-Soviet period.