Ilan Kelman's thoughtful deliberations on non-national territory held in
common trust includes a mention of Svalbard. I'd venture to suggest that,
when one examines the Realpolitik of modern Svalbard, the archipelago
is 'governed' to all intents and purposes as if it were Norwegian
territory. The historic mining rights still exercised by Russia are
respected of course, just as the long standing Polish research station at
Hornsundet remains essentially a sort of Polish exclave community. There
is however one way in which Svalbard's peculiar legal status is manifest
in the islands, and that is in the number of migrants from Asia. The
islands have a much more relaxed visa regime than mainland Norway - a
condition of the original treaty which Ilan quotes. So the September 2006
issue of hidden europe magazine (http://www.hiddeneurope.co.uk) had an
article that mentioned the Thai community in Svalbard. There is even an
Iranian-run pizzeria in Longyearbyen.
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