Towards a colder climate? The bilateral relationship between Norway and Russia during the 1990s.

During the year 2000, Russian authorities harshly criticised various aspect s of Norwegian security and defence policy on several occasions. This artic le examines the development of the bilateral relationship between Russia an d Norway over the last decade. It is argued that the cooler relations can b e explained partly as a result of the deterioration of Russia's relationshi p with NATO in the same period. The strengthening of national-patriotic sen timents in Russian society and the inertia of the central Russian decision- making process at the end of the decade also contributed to this developmen t. Last, but perhaps not least, changes in Norwegian policy with regard to its northern areas triggered negative reactions in Russia and led to furthe r deterioration of the bilateral relationship.