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Kirkenes and Nickel: The tale of the Northern brotherhood
This study examines the unique case of two border towns twinning - Norwegian Kirkenes and Russian Nickel. The
results of this study explain why this experiment, unlike other similar twinning projects involving Russian cities,
can be called a near-success story. The twin towns have managed to create an extensive system of cooperation in
such areas as economics, logistics, ecology, health, education, sports, mass media, youth and women’s cooperation,
promotion of dialogue between indigenous peoples, cooperation with international organizations, etc. The
results of this study also offer explanation for the relative longevity of the Kirkenes-Nickel twinning project,
which has managed to survive a number of crises in Russia’s relations with Norway and the West as a whole for a
long time. At the same time, the article analyzes the reasons for some of the failures that befell this project. The
author concludes that the experience gained during the implementation of the project is useful for the development
of twinning projects in Europe not only in historical retrospect, but also in the future, when Russia’s
relations with its neighbors normalize after the end of the Ukrainian conflict. The author also explains why the
Kirkenes-Nickel case has not only local but also global significance, and what other twin cities can borrow from
the cooperative experience of the two northern towns.