RUSSIA鈥檚 state security police have charged a Norwegian environmental group with spying, after raiding its offices in Murmansk and confiscating files, cameras and computers. The charges could herald a wave of official hostility towards foreign environmentalists working in Russia, as nationalists gain influence in the run-up to December鈥檚 parliamentary elections.
The Norwegian group, Bellona, was the first to publicise the extent of nuclear pollution in the Russian Arctic. It has continued to work with authorities in Murmansk, the main port for Russia鈥檚 Arctic fleet, on ways to dispose of the large amounts of nuclear waste in the region.
But on 6 October, the FSB, successor to the KGB, raided Bellona鈥檚 offices in Murmansk and St Petersburg, and the homes of its Russian staff. The FSB gave no reason until last week, when it announced that it would prosecute Bellona for 鈥渞eleasing information ranked among the state鈥檚 secrets鈥�. The FSB says that during the raids 鈥渟ecret material concerning the northern fleet 鈥� was confiscated鈥�.
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Thomas Nilsen of Bellona says the confiscated files contain no secret information. Carl Bildt, the former Swedish prime minister who is the UN鈥檚 negotiator at the Bosnia peace talks, has raised the issue with Russia鈥檚 foreign minister, Andrei Kosyrev.
The raids may be an attempt to discredit Kosyrev, says Nilsen. He says it is 鈥渟ignificant鈥� that the raids on Bellona 鈥渉appened the day after Kosyrev signed an agreement in Oslo to collaborate with Norway in dealing with nuclear pollution in the Arctic鈥�. Russian nationalists have accused Kosyrev of being too open with foreigners. President Boris Yeltsin, confronted with rising popular support for the nationalists, said last week that he would replace Kosyrev, who represents Murmansk in parliament. One of Kosyrev鈥檚 opponents in the forthcoming election will be the sister of archnationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
But there are also signs of wider opposition to foreign environmentalists in Russia. Several TV and newspaper reports in recent weeks have accused all foreign environmentalists of being spies, says Nilsen.
鈥淲e have definitely been feeling a chill lately,鈥� says Josh Handler, who works for Greenpeace in Moscow. Contacts in ministries, he says, have asked Greenpeace not to phone them but to 鈥減ass messages through mutual friends鈥�.
This month, the FSB also questioned Kent Lee, who works for the American firm Eastview Publications, which publishes Russian parliamentary records and other public documents. All sorts of Westerners, including scientists, have come under suspicion recently, he says. 鈥淭here is definitely something going on.鈥�
But Bellona seems to have aroused the particular ire of the nuclear establishment, say other Westerners working in Russia. Some Russians blame it for the fact that Western companies are getting much of the Western money earmarked for Russian nuclear problems. In September, for example, the European Commission awarded 250 000 Ecus (拢210 000) to Britain鈥檚 AEA Technology and the French firm SGN to study ways of cleaning up the Lepse, a barge used by the Murmansk Shipping Company to store nuclear waste. Russian institutes with close ties to the powerful atomic energy ministry had lobbied for the contract, says Nilsen.