Sweden and Norway’s Long-Running Reindeer Feud Is Getting Worse
- Reindeer from Sweden crossing to feed in Norwegian pastures
- Sweden hesitant to sign new agreement to calm angry neighbors
Reindeer graze in Sweden.
Photographer: Arterra/UIG via Getty Images
Since the end of the Ice Age, reindeer herds have grazed across northern Scandinavia happily unaware of the rise of the nation state. But now their disregard for borders, and local Sami traditions, are causing a long-simmering dispute between friendly neighbors to reach a boiling point.
Norwegian Agriculture Minister Jon Georg Dale on Wednesday said he would take measures to cull Swedish reindeer crossing the border as Sweden has been hesitant to ratify an agreement signed almost a decade ago. Until Sweden does so, grazing in the Nordic hinterland is governed by the Lapp Codicil from 1751, which gives rights for herders from Sweden, but also Norway, to largely ignore the border.