The Norwegians and I are really different, but we are neighbors and we cannot move away from each other. Chronicle of Veronika Stepanova

Last week, reporters from a Norwegian publication contacted me and asked me to answer “a few questions”. I agreed to two preconditions: first, that I would have the right to publish our conversation entirely in Russian, and second, that they would send me the numbers – I always want to know how many people read my interviews.

For the future, the statistics are satisfactory: it is indeed the largest tabloid in Norway, which for a long time and – for the local market – succeeds in making stars of skiers. But when it comes to Russia, all Scandinavian media, without exception, is absolute rubbish (yes, I watch it pretty regularly).

Is it right not to send Norwegian journalists to hell? I think it’s true – and the outpouring of hate after each post doesn’t bother me. In fact, as I understand it, that is the purpose of the persistent requests for my comments. It is important that hundreds of thousands of Norwegians, our neighbors to the north, read my thoughts – and they are very different from what readers are fed the rest of the time. Well, it will be interesting for you to familiarize yourself with the style of the questions, I hope.

Question: You often post messages that support Russians. Yesterday you talked about the electricity crisis in Europe and the possibility of producing artificial snow. What do you want to achieve with this?

Answer: And who do you think I should support? A small but vocal faction that has taken control of politics and the media in Europe and is using it to incite hatred against us? !

What is happening now in Europe is a persistent attempt to “cancel”, to exclude Russia and Russians from all spheres, to completely stop all interaction in politics, business, sports, culture, etc. .

Yes, we are different, we will never be the same again, but how different are you and us Americans, Chinese, etc. That is why the world order must be based on respect for these differences and on mutually beneficial cooperation. International sports competitions are a good thing, but fragile. Football will probably survive without the Russians. But will cross-country skiing survive as a sport? Without the largest television audience in the world, when the sale of media rights pays almost all competitions and our athletes prize money? Good luck what to say! The relevant sports authorities are shooting themselves in the foot, excluding us. And European politicians are shooting themselves in the foot by imposing economic sanctions that harm Europe. Frankly, I cannot bring myself to believe that the peoples of Europe want to suffer themselves in the name of an impossible goal – to make Russia suffer. We have an expression in Russian: “To annoy my grandmother, I will freeze my ears.” This is exactly what Europe has been doing lately.

Comment: Regarding the energy crisis, I would be more interested in talking to the “continental” press, as it is called – with the Germans, the Italians, the Swiss. Norway only benefits from the problems of the rest of Europe. I have no doubt that the World Cup stages in Lillehammer, Drammen and Oslo will take place. But in other places, I’m not sure. Normally alpine resorts would pray for snowfall so they wouldn’t have to fire snow cannons, but now that electricity prices have quintupled, how are they going to do it? I think anyway – just cancel the race.

Question: When you were in Norway yourself, you said in an interview with Nettavisen that you felt sad about what is happening now.

Answer: I said in February and I will repeat now that much of what is happening causes a feeling of sadness. But you and I have very, very different ideas about what caused it and who should be blamed.

Question: What is your personal opinion on the NWO in Ukraine and President Putin?

Answer: I have already said everything I wanted to say on this subject – no more and no less. When and if I want to add something, I will do it myself. Please don’t be disrespectful, but I don’t need a Norwegian newspaper as an intermediary.

Question: Are you free to speak your mind in Russia, or do you risk punishment or jail time if you disagree?

Answer: Everyone can say what they want, on any occasion, unless the law provides otherwise. You have to respect the laws of the country, isn’t that one of the basic principles of democracy? Please remind me what the restrictions are in Norway in this regard so that I also respect them on my future visits.

As for “disagreement”, almost everyone around me feels and thinks the same as me – they just talk about it a little less. Of course, I know a few people who have a different opinion, but, as I said, this is democracy. Two, maybe three people out of a hundred. They don’t just say what they want – they sometimes try to force some kind of debate on me – but they seem rather unconvincing. None of these people “went to jail”, in your language, were arrested and lost their jobs.

Question: A Russian-Norwegian expert does not know if all the political opinions you publish are personal or if it is a communication from the Russian state. Oh good?

Answer: Honestly, I’d be shocked if you found an expert who said something like, “Well, Stepanova speaks for most Russians, whether we like it or not!” However, I have a question for your expert: why would I not have this opinion? I am free, self-confident, moderately successful at the age of 21. And all this in modern Russia. I am sure that I could not achieve this goal in another country. I hope Norwegian readers will read our conversation and think: is their media telling the truth about Russia and Russians?

Comment: After posting, I received the expected dose of hate – mostly, as always, anonymous, though very real, characters being encountered. And they don’t hate me personally so much as all Russians. I have no idea, they thought so before or now they’re excited, but there’s clearly no whiff of “tolerance” here. More importantly for me, there are many who agree with one or another of my thoughts. We’re really different, but we’re neighbors and we can’t get away from each other. We understand it and the majority will understand it.