OSLO, Norway, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Russia has inexplicably blocked entry to the country of a Norwegian government official who was to evaluate a nuclear waste project.
Aftenposten reported Friday that Ingjerd Kroken, a senior Defense Ministry official, was turned away by Russian immigration authorities when she landed in Moscow Wednesday for meetings with a board overseeing the clean up of nuclear waste on the Kola Peninsula in Russia, including that resulting from the dismantling of nuclear submarines.
Kroken had made at more than five-dozen trips to Russia in recent years on official business and the denial of entry came as a surprise, the report said.
No explanation was given by the Russians.
The waste clean up project, under the Artic Military Environment Cooperation accord, involves Russia, Norway, the United States and Britain.
There was no indication in the report of what the Norwegian government response to the incident would be.
