21-year-old Emilie Engelien from Jessheim has spent the last twelve months at Pasvik border station – part of the army’s military department belonging to the garrison in Sør-Varanger.
The station’s overall task is to monitor the border between Norway and Russia.
– The family at home really wonders how I feel now and says they are proud to have me up here, they also brag to their friends, Engelien says to NTB.
GUARDIAN GENSA: Emilie Engelien is responsible for equipment at Pasvik border station. Photo: Annika Byrde / NTB
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– It’s good to hear that those at home appreciate it.
Only the Pasvik River separates the two countries, and in the evening the soldiers at the border station can see the lights from the Russian mining town of Nikel, which is eight kilometers from the Norwegian border.
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– Even more important than before
Although the 21-year-old and her fellow soldiers have not been given new routines or a new everyday life after the neighboring country’s invasion of Ukraine, the job in the north feels much more meaningful.
– The job we do now feels even more important than before. You feel that you have to take extra care.
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She tells NTB that the war between Russia and Ukraine characterizes the conversations between the soldiers at the station, and that everyone follows the news closely.
Even though she will be stationed for another six months, the 21-year-old does not have time to feel homesick.
– I am surrounded by people all the time, and there is a good environment at the station, she says
MEANINGFUL: Emilie Engelien tells NTB that the job she does has become more important after Russia. Photo: Annika Byrde / NTB
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– Lower threshold for attacking Norway
On Monday, the Prime Minister’s Office stated that Norway is sending 2,000 M72 armored vehicles to Ukraine.
It is used by ordinary soldiers, they are easy to carry and are effective against tanks other than tanks, Lieutenant Colonel Palle Ydstebø, section leader at the War College, the Norwegian Defense College, explained to Dagbladet on Monday night.
This is the weapon Norway is sending
International law expert, conflict researcher and foreign policy commentator Cecilie Hellestveit believes that the supply of weapons has made the threshold for attacking Norwegian targets much lower.
Will maintain relations with Russia
In the border municipality of Sør-Varanger, in the far east of Finnmark, people live close to the border with Russia. According to mayor Lena Bergeng (Labor Party), ten percent of the municipality’s inhabitants are Russian.
When she spoke at the Church Conference on Thursday, she said that Norway condemns the Russian authorities, but not the Russian people.
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Now she thinks it is even more important to maintain the good relationship with the neighbor to the east.
– The Russians are part of us, they are our friends and our colleagues. Our job is not to make the relationship tense, and that job is even more important now than before, Bergeng tells NTB.
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