Good morning, There’s a lot of talk about Russian hybrid warfare, but few places have seen provocations as obvious as in the Estonian town of Narva, which is only the width of a river away from Russia. Today, our correspondent zooms in on Narva, where tensions remain high. Frustration has also characterised the detention of anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, who has spent five months in prison in Nuuk awaiting Denmark’s decision about whether to extradite him to Japan. Now he is once again a free man, after Danish authorities took their time finding the path of least trouble. Since this is the last Northern Europe newsletter before Christmas, you can also dive into a story about the many homes of the one and only Father Christmas.  Editor's noteAmalie Holmgaard Mersh  Narva: where the free world begins and endsPerched on the edge of NATO’s eastern frontier, the Estonian city of Narva, home to 56,000 residents, 96% of whom speak Russian as their first language, has become the best illustration of how the Kremlin is ramping up its provocations and hybrid warfare tactics. Surveillance blimps, described as “zeppelins,” now appear near Narva on an almost weekly basis, sometimes marked with the ominous “Z” symbol of Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “It’s intentionally visible,” Egert Belitšev, Estonia’s border force director, told The Independent. “They want us to know they’re watching.” Meanwhile, other provocations include Russia moving border buoys in the Narva River back in May, 12-hour queues to cross the border worsened by deliberate Russian slowdowns, and death threats from some Narva residents to the director of Narva Museum, Maria Smorzhevskikh-Smirnova, because the museum, just 101 meters from the Russian border town Ivangorod, has displayed a banner declaring “Putin is a war criminal” for two years. These tensions peak during Russia’s annual Victory Day celebrations, when massive speakers across the river blast Kremlin propaganda, such as speeches by Putin, towards Narva.  | Emily Vutt
The stakes for Narva are high. In 2022, Putin hinted at “taking back” the city, marking it as a key target in Russia’s propaganda efforts. As Narva’s residents endure long border waits and growing tension, its significance as NATO’s last outpost remains high. Here, the struggle between democracy and authoritarianism is felt daily. Border restrictions and anti-tank barriers, installed as precautions against potential incursions, remind locals and travelers how close they are to conflict. Narva is, as one Estonian border guard described, “where the free world begins and ends.” |
In trust we trustIt was not quite Friday the 13th, but for British hedge fund trader Sanjay Shah, Thursday the 12th was unlucky enough. After years on the run from the Danish authorities, Shah was finally handed his sentence: 12 years in prison – the country’s heaviest penalty ever given out for economic fraud. Basically, over the course of three years, Shah orchestrated a scheme that defrauded the Danish state of 12.7 billion Danish kroner (€1.7 billion). This involved using a practice known as “cum-ex” trading, where through several companies, he rapidly bought and sold the same shares around the time of dividend payments. The idea was that, by doing this, he could claim the same dividend tax refund several times, even though the tax had only been paid once. Shah insists he did not commit fraud, claiming he simply used a loophole in the Danish system. By all accounts, it does seem to have been quite easy. At the time, the Danish Tax Agency had one single employee who was responsible for assessing and approving all applications. That person did not even check the documents’ accuracy. However, this case is about more than bringing back the billions. It is about trust.  | Erica Bernsten Strange
With nearly 74% of Danes believing “most people can be trusted” – more than any other nationality – trust is a cornerstone of Danish society. Even the country’s official website calls it “the land of trust.” This fundamental belief is also woven into the Danish tax system, where citizens contribute nearly half of their income. So, when someone like Shah swoops in and exploits the system for personal gain, it feels like more than a financial loss – it is a betrayal of that trust. Shah’s conviction is not the end of the story: he appealed the decision on the spot, and the legal battle could drag on for years. Nevertheless, it is a step toward mending that broken trust for now. |
Europe's SDG progress In 2015, the United Nations established a collection of 17 global objectives as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The point of the goals is to bring “peace and prosperity for people and the planet”. There are less than six years until we reach 2030, and the lack of results is striking: not a single European country has achieved all 17 of them. Finland – along with its Scandinavian and Western European neighbours – comes closest. While most nations have achieved, or are on their way to achieving the first objective "No poverty”, not a single one has achieved the second goal of “Zero Hunger.”  Created by Meike Eijsberg.
All the places Santa calls homeChristmas is just days away, which is an excellent – and maybe the only – occasion to talk about the cultural and economic force that is Santa Claus and his many "homes". The alleged homes that are spread across the northern hemisphere inspire wonder and attract visitors from around the globe, each location adding a unique chapter to the story of Santa’s magic and enduring influence. Santa's presence is celebrated in Rovaniemi’s Santa Claus Village in the snowy landscapes of Finland’s Lapland; in Uummannaq Greenland, where they sport a comically large post box for letters to Santa as well as his cozy cabin nearby; in North Pole, Alaska, home to the Santa Claus House and its festive memorabilia; and in Norway’s Drøbak, where the year-round Christmas House, Julehuset, welcomes letters to Santa from children across the world.  | Mikael Kataja
Finland’s Lapland stands out as his most iconic home, with the Santa Claus Village and the mystical Korvatunturi serving as the heart of a bustling seasonal tourism industry that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors and fuels the region’s winter economy. Santa has become a universal symbol of Christmas, but this has only been the case since the turn of the 20th century. Through folklore, literature, and advertising, his modern image was shaped from the generous patron saint of children St Nicolas from modern-day Türkiye. |
 Paul Watson The release of a real-life Captain NemoControversial anti-whaling activist Paul Watson is once again a free man after the Danish authorities managed to find the least troublesome way to avoid his extradition to Japan. Erica Bernsten Strange and Amalie Holmgaard Mersh One morning this summer, a ship sailed into the port of Nuuk, Greenland, to refuel. Upon docking, the ship’s captain, Paul Watson, an anti-whaling activist and founder of the NGO Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, was arrested and detained by the Greenlandic police, who acted on an international arrest warrant, a so-called “red notice”, for allegedly damaging a Japanese whaling vessel near Antarctica in 2010. After spending five months in detention in Nuuk, Watson once again became a free man on Tuesday. His imprisonment caused a global uproar, while Denmark faced a delicate balance between upholding international law, preserving good diplomatic relations, and taking Greenland and the Faroe Islands, the whaling nations within the Danish commonwealth, into account. A brief history of whalingThroughout human history, whales have been perceived as a commodity and a natural resource, much like oil and gas. This approach brought many whale species, such as blue, fin, and humpback, to the brink of extinction, leading animal rights groups to increasingly advocate for the protection of whales in the 1970s and 80s. Among them was Greenpeace, which Paul Watson co-founded and remained a part of until 1977, before establishing Sea Shepherd. The growing public outcry against whaling reached a turning point in 1986 when the International Whaling Commission (IWC) officially banned commercial whaling – a ban that has been credited for the slow recovery of several whale populations. However, not all nations accepted the ban, and to this day Norway and Iceland continue to hunt whales commercially. Meanwhile, whaling in Greenland and the Faroe Islands takes the form of non-commercial traditional hunting. Japan originally joined the IWC ban, but continued its whaling operations under the guise of scientific research, to the dismay of environmentalists. Despite international outrage, Japan withdrew from the IWC in 2019 and resumed commercial whaling. The impossible balanceIt was up to the Danish ministry of justice to decide Watson’s fate, and the decision was far from easy. In the end, the ministry sent out a carefully worded ruling based on legal arguments. Since Watson had been arrested in Greenland, Greenlandic extradition law applied to the case, and notably, this law has no set statute of limitations. According to professor of international criminal law Jørn Vestergaard, interviewed by the Danish newspaper Information, this provided crucial legal maneuverability. Other key points considered included the low level of seriousness of the alleged offences and the length of time Watson had already spent behind bars. It was not until the end of November that the ministry reached out to Japanese authorities to clarify whether Watson’s time could be deducted from a potential prison sentence in Japan. However, they did not receive a clear answer, and this uncertainty ultimately played a role in the final decision. “In a way, you pass the responsibility back to the Japanese and say that they have not been able to provide satisfactory information. In a sense, everything – from a Danish perspective – comes together. Although we could have extradited him, and although the conditions are strictly speaking met, based on this overall assessment, the ministry of justice can say that we are now releasing him,” Vestergaard explained to Information. In the name of...justice?Watson's actions have often been compared to those of Captain Nemo – the fictional character created by French author Jules Verne who follows his own moral compass, even if it means resorting to violence and destruction. Watson views his fleet as a de facto law enforcement agency, stepping in where international authorities fail to act. In general, crimes in international waters, whatever shape or form, are difficult to police. On the other hand, his methods have long been a source of controversy. In 1977, Greenpeace expelled him for being too extreme in his approach. Even his own organisation, Sea Shepherd, eventually chose to distance itself from him in 2022. By the mid-90s, he was convicted in Norway for attempting to sabotage a whaling vessel, and in Iceland he remains a persona non grata. In the Faroe Islands, some politicians call Watson a “criminal”. Following Watson’s release, the Faroese Pilot Whalers Association stated that “Denmark (has) indirectly approved the activities that activists carry out in the Faroe Islands.” This suggests that tensions could flare in Denmark’s relations with the Faroe Islands the next time Watson visits the northern archipelago’s shores.
Georgia strikes back at Baltic sanctionsAfter Lithuania and Estonia sanctioned 17 more Georgian officials on Sunday – following a first round of sanctions earlier this month – due to the security forces’ suppression of protests in Tbilisi, Georgia's government has fired back, accusing the Baltic states of having "limited sovereignty" and a "soviet mentality."While they don’t plan to take steps to reciprocate the Baltic sanctions, this diplomatic clash reveals the complex legacy of Soviet history in Eastern Europe. While Lithuania and Estonia have been EU members since 2004, Georgia's ruling party faces accusations of democratic backsliding and growing Russian influence as it delays EU accession talks, despite 80% public support for membership.  | Gerda Krivaite
This highlights how Soviet-era rhetoric can be weaponised to deflect criticism of authoritarian actions. As pressure mounts for EU-wide sanctions against Georgian officials, this clash highlights the widening gulf between the Baltic states' successful democratic transition and the South Caucasus's more complex path to European integration. |
The great northern grid stand-offSpikes in electricity prices in Norway and Sweden over the past few weeks have prompted the energy ministers of both countries to direct sharp criticism towards Germany for causing the rise. Sweden’s energy minister, Ebba Busch, told Swedish broadcaster SVT last week that she was “furious with the Germans” for not considering how their phase-out of nuclear power would affect other countries. Usually, German nuclear power could be used to compensate when weak winds lower the supply of wind energy in the country. The phase-out no longer allows this, meaning Swedish electricity is exported to fill the gap. This takes from the available supply in Sweden and sends prices soaring for the Swedes. In Norway, this has caused several political parties to once again seriously consider whether to disconnect themselves from the two energy cables connecting them to Denmark – a move Busch warned the Norwegians against, because it could cause ripple effects across Europe, which has closely interconnected energy grids. Both ministers agree that Germany should split its electricity price zones, so German electricity prices would vary across the country instead of the current system of a country-wide electricity price. This means that high electricity prices across Germany rub off on the two Scandinavian countries. Busch is now trying to push Germany to reorganise their electricity market, by promising to revisit stalled discussions on a new subsea power cable between the two countries.  | Amalie Holmgaard Mersh
Interconnected grids have many benefits, ensuring that European countries can support each other's national supplies. According to expert Henrik Møller Jørgensen, the criticism of Germany is just, but only half of the story, as Norway and Sweden also reap the benefits of plummeting electricity prices when other countries produce large amounts of, for example, wind and solar power. |
Every day, our correspondents recommend one book to you. Today, Amélie Reichmuth chose this one. We hope you enjoy!  Everything is Not Enough Lola Akinmade Åkerström As a young female immigrant, I often struggle with finding characters I can identify with – because in my experience stories depicting the complexity of intertwined identities are hard to find within Swedish literature. Lola Akinmade Åkerström knows this better than anyone else: Born in Nigeria, she was educated in the United States before moving to Sweden. In her books "In Every Mirror She's Black" and "Everything is Not Enough", she portrays three immigrant women who are drawn to Stockholm in the hopes of starting a new life. Yet, nothing goes as expected – revealing the flaws of Swedish society. I have been captivated from the moment I read the first line, and I can’t wait to read the next book in this series – which is due to be published next year.
That was all from Northern Europe this week. I hope you enjoyed this edition and would love to know what you thought about the stories. Please feel free to get in touch with your comments or questions by replying to this email. Have a lovely weekend, Amalie Holmgaard Mersh Leading Editor for Nothern Europe PS: Can you tell us what you think of today's edition of the newsletter? Every day, as a small reward for your feedback, we will show you a cute animal picture. This newsletter was produced in collaboration with subeditor Liene Lūsīte. It was edited by Dylan Goodman, the pictures were created by Sara Curic, and the executive producer was Klara Vlahcevic Lisinski. |
|
|
|
|
