The speaker of the Russian State Duma instructed the Committee on International Relations to consider the annulment of the Barents Treaty between Russia and Norway at the time the first two bills were approved:
- Russia is officially transitioning to a “war economy”, something WarNews247 had pointed out since 3/24/2022. The first draft laws by which B. Putin requested extraordinary special powers were approved. The Russian defense industry will operate in triple shifts and without permits.
- Both developments are not good for regional peace and stability. If the cancellation of the Barents Treaty is approved, which is very likely if the blockade of Svalbard is not lifted, then Russia and Norway are on a course for head-on confrontation
40 years of negotiations will collapse in an instant and the region will turn into a “war zone” as territorial disputes are raised.
At the same time, the approval for a transition to a war economy only makes sense if there is an extension of the war either to Transnistria or to the Baltic, and therefore it will be necessary at some point to mobilize. It does not concern either Donbas or Kharkiv, but the goal is much bigger.
Proposal to denounce the Barents Treaty
The chairman of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, instructed the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives to consider the issue of the termination or suspension of the agreement on the delimitation of maritime zones between Russia and Norway in the Barents Sea.
The Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin at the plenary session asked the Committee on International Affairs to thoroughly consider this matter.
The issue of denunciation of the Treaty was raised by the representative of the CPRF faction Mikhail Matveyev. According to him, at that time Russia had granted Norway 175 thousand square kilometers of the Barents Sea. The agreement was approved by the State Duma in 2010.
According to the politician, the concessions of so many thousands of square km were explained by the fact that the agreement should have a positive effect on the “interaction between the Arctic countries”.
“Today we see how the Kingdom of Norway prevents the shipment of food to Svalbard, to our settlements,” he said.
“Leonid Eduardovich Slutsky is here with us (president of the international committee). Let’s ask Leonid Eduardovich to study this issue and then inform the deputies,” said Vyacheslav Volodin.
The Russia-Norway crisis is escalating into a territorial dispute: “Svalbard was stolen – To cancel the Barents Treaty and 1920!”
Strong reaction from Norway
“The separation line agreement does not contain any termination clause,” replies Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ane Haavardsdatter Lunde. And he adds:
- “It is common practice that this type of boundary setting agreement is valid indefinitely. We assume Russia will deal with it.
- Norway and Russia have a mutual interest in maintaining the agreement on the dividing line.”
Since 1970, Norway and Russia have been negotiating a dividing line for the continental shelf in the Barents Sea.
The difference is an ocean area of 176,000 square kilometers.
Russian seismic surveys in the late 1980s in disputed areas suggested that large oil deposits may exist in the area.
- Since 1978, fishing in the so-called gray zone has been regulated by a temporary regime. This agreement is renewed every year. The gray zone is 40,000 square kilometers and enters both the Norwegian and Russian zones.
- Former Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and his counterpart Mikhail Fradkov agreed in June 2007 to a deal regulating the border along a 70km line in the outer Varangerfjord.
“This is very dramatic. First and foremost, this is a cruel threat from Russia to break the most important cooperation that Norway and Russia have achieved since the war, says Nupi senior researcher Julie Wilhelmsen.
- A historic agreement is at stake. After 40 years of negotiations, Russia and Norway agreed in 2010 to a compromise over the dividing line in the Barents Sea.
Fisheries management in the Barents Sea is the most important thing in Norwegian fisheries policy. The fact that Russia is questioning it is very serious, says former mayor of Sør-Varanger and former head of the Barents Secretariat, Rune Rafaelsen (Labour).
Russia is turning into a “war economy”
At the same time, the Russian parliament approved the first vote to adopt “war economy” measures, as WarNews247 had announced.
- The Russian government will be able to force businesses to supply the military with weapons systems, munitions and compel their employees to work overtime under two laws approved in a first vote in the Russian parliament.
One of the two bills, both passed unanimously, says the state could impose ” special economic measures” during military operations, requiring companies to supply goods and services to the military.
“The load on the defense industry has increased significantly. In order to ensure the supply of weapons and ammunition, it is necessary to optimize the work of the military-industrial complex and enterprises that are part of cooperation chains”, stressed the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government Yuri Borisov.
“At this time, when the countries of the collective West are increasing their military presence on the border with Russia, increasing the pressure of sanctions, increasing the supplies of weapons to Ukraine, the importance of passing the bills cannot be overestimated, ” Borisov said. to the legislators.
- The second bill would amend the labor code to give the government the right to regulate working hours and set days off at certain companies.
- Employees of companies supplying munitions to the Russian military could be required to work at night, on weekends and holidays and without annual leave.
Both bills still need to undergo a second and third reading in the Duma, where Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said the debate would continue behind closed doors on Wednesday. They must then be reviewed by the upper house of parliament and signed by President Vladimir Putin to become law.
The bills were drawn up on the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin and allow the Russian government to decide on the introduction of special measures in the economy to ensure that counter-terrorism and other operations are carried out outside Russia.
“The amendments directly affect the historically formed list of the main executing projects of the State Ministry of Defense and their cooperation,” Yuri Borisov explained.
In addition, in order to reduce the time for placing orders, the right is given to the Ministry of Emergencies, the Ministry of Defense, the National Guard and the Federal Security Service, by introducing special measures, to change the quantity of products provided for by the contracts which are in force by virtue of the State Defense Order.
- Government customers have the right to change the quantity of supplied products even now, but not more than 10%.
- “The amendments propose to remove this restriction, which will reduce the time for placing additional volumes of the state defense order and making advance payments to organizations of the defense industry, ” Yuri Borisov explained. “However, the process for setting prices remains the same.”
- The bills also give the Government the power to establish the specifics of the legal regulation of labor relations in individual organizations, their structural departments and their production facilities.
The rest of the bills are expected to pass and in the background… conscription.
Source: WarNews247