SØR-VARANGER MUNICIPALITY: Security and trust in limbo following the Ukraine war.

Abstract

With Russia`s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the bilateral relationship between Norway and Russia reached a new low. Russia is increasingly described as an existential threat. To protect Norwegian national security, sanctions were imposed, cooperation halted, and surveillance capacities strengthened. These measures significantly affected the Norwegian border community of Sør-Varanger, prompting the question: were the national authorities and the local community aligned regarding perceptions of insecurity and measures to increase security? This thesis unpacks in what ways, if at all, Norwegian national security discourses correspond to the security perceptions of the local people in the border community of Sør-Varanger, often referred to as the “frontline of Norwegian sovereignty”. The thesis offers knowledge on how local citizens, including the Russian diaspora, evaluate and manage their security situation following the Ukraine war. Using a "matrix" design, security articulations were traced at the individual (through semi-structured interviews), societal (through local media outlets) and state (through government speeches) levels. Relevant insights from human security and securitization theories helped me analyse the data across the different levels intersecting with each other. The concept of trust – a key feature of security – was deployed across the data clusters to help determine levels of security. The research design enabled me to answer how national security discourse impacted security perceptions and trust in the strategic border area between Russia and Norway amid a tense geopolitical environment. The thesis demonstrates that impacts from the Ukraine war extend to the Arctic, significantly impacting trust and security perceptions in the border municipality. Moreover, it showcases that solely addressing state and societal insecurities are inadequate because they do not capture the concerns of those who remain silent as a security mechanism. Failing to include human security concerns can prove detrimental given Russia`s use of hybrid threat activities where existing vulnerabilities and conflicts are exploited to exacerbate discord. Trust is essential to societal resilience, and inclusive moral communities plays a significant role. To counter the trust deficit revealed in the thesis, acknowledging the root causes of human insecurities are key. By uncovering blind spots, the state and society is better equipped to implement inclusive strategies to restore social cohesion.