Toug­her bor­der con­trols bet­ween Nor­way and Sval­bard

While Euro­pe is deba­ting toug­her bor­der regimes, the Nor­we­gi­an govern­ment has imple­men­ted stric­ter bor­der con­trols on flights bet­ween Nor­way and Sval­bard. Pass­port con­trols in Oslo or Trom­sø have to be expec­ted now, whe­re ID cards had been suf­fi­ci­ent so far for non-Nor­we­gi­an Euro­peans.

It is important to make sure that the name on the ticket is exact­ly the same as it is in the pass­port, other­wi­se air­line web­site will not allow online check-in. Staff at check-in coun­ters may deny check-in and boar­ding if the name on the ticket devia­tes from the one in the pass­port.

Sval­bard is under Nor­we­gi­an sove­reig­n­ty, but with limi­ta­ti­ons as defi­ned by the Spits­ber­gen Trea­ty of 1920. Due to the trea­ty regu­la­ti­ons, Sval­bard is not trea­ted as part of Nor­way by cus­toms. Flights from Oslo to Lon­gye­ar­by­en start at the inter­na­tio­nal part of the air­port Oslo Gar­de­r­moen. Nor­way is part of the Schen­gen trea­ty area, Sval­bard is not, and this means that you are crossing a Schen­gen boun­da­ry when tra­ve­ling to or from Sval­bard.

The recent tigh­tening has pro­ba­b­ly litt­le to do with the cur­rent deba­te about Schen­gen bor­ders, refu­gees and secu­ri­ty. It is more likely that the sur­pri­se visit of the Rus­si­an vice pre­mier Rogos­in in spring made the Nor­we­gi­an govern­ment take the­se steps. If Nor­way would legal­ly have been able to deny Rogos­in access to Spits­ber­gen is con­tro­ver­si­al.

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