On Thursday, Russia will close its consulate general in Kirkkoniemi, Norway “for the time being”. The consulate will tell you about it message service in X.
According to the consulate, the reason is Norway’s demand to reduce the number of Russian consular employees in the country to two diplomats.
The Russian consulate in Barentsburg in Svalbard also suspends its operations, The Barents Observer website says.
Kirkkoniemi is located in northern Norway near the Russian border. Russia opened its general consulate in the city in 1993, while Norway opened a corresponding general consulate in Murmansk. Norway closed its Murmansk consulate after a major Russian invasion in 2022.