Svalbard, more properly an archipelago, about twice the size of Belgium, with total population of about 2,500, nominally belongs to Norway, but under the terms of the 1920 Svalbard Treaty, certain countries, including the U.S., Denmark, China, and Russia have rights of access. Later, after we visited the old Russian consulate in Barentsburg, painted a mint green, now a museum, the Russian ‘museum guide’ briskly rushed to the new secure Russian consulate just behind the old one, to the left in brick color, likely to file her report on me. Meanwhile, members of the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party believe the Chinese, who have access to a powerful radar system that monitors space weather and the atmosphere, are performing military research on Svalbard, which is not allowed under the treaty.
Author: RealClearWire
Published at: 2026-02-21 22:38:44
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