A large plot of private land in Norway’s Arctic Swalbard Islands may soon be sold for € 300 million ($ 330 million), but the deal has raised concerns in Oslo on national security.
The property, known as the Sore Fagarfzard, covers about 60 square kilometers (23 square mi) and has the last private -owned land in Swalbard.
A group of international and norwegian investors offered to buy land, but officials in Norway are concerned that it may stretch a strategic leg to foreign powers in a sensitive arctic field.
The land is about 60 kilometers (37 mi) from the main city of Longereben and has been in Norwegian hands for more than a century. It was listed for sale last year, and the government quickly made it clear that any sales should be approved in advance due to security laws.
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On April 10, 2015, Norway, snow-capped mountains near Kings Bay Research Station in NY-Offlesund on Norway, Norway’s Spitsbergen Island. (Jens Butner/Picture through Alliance Getty Image)
One of the sellers also called it “strategic foothills in high archi”, in which only concerns have fulfilled concerns.
Svalbard is becoming more important because melting sea ice opens new shipping routes and increases global interest in the region.
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A white rainbow on the Arctic Sea in Swarbard, Norway. (Artra/Universal Image Group through Getty Image)
Buyers describe themselves as environmentalists from NATO countries who want to protect the land.
“Consortium includes both Norwegian and International Investors, who have a long -term perspective to protect the region from environmental changes,” said a shareholder and climate activist Birgit Leoden.
He said that about half the money from the sale would go to environmental projects in Swalbard. So far, the group has not discussed sale with the Norwegian government.
In the vicinity of Nordencald Land National Park in Swalbard, a lonely polar bear was exposed on the rocks, where a glacier stood a decade ago. (Mark Fitzesimons, Sony World Photography Awards 2023)
Nevertheless, Norwegian officers are cautious. In 2024, he blocked a similar effort by Chinese investors. Business Minister Sesili Myrsth at that time warned that such action could damage regional stability and endanger national interests.
The Swalbard is ruled by the 1920 Treaty that gives more than 40 countries to more than 40 countries including Russia, China and the United States, equal rights to live and trade there.
Russia, which makes a compromise on the islands, has accused Norway of breaking the treaty by increasing its military appearance, some Norway denies.
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Advocates of vendors, per kyllingstad, said that buyers only want to protect nature and do not block the sale.
