Russia agrees to pay Green Peace 2.7 million euros to settle Arctic Sunrise case
The Netherlands and Russia reached an agreement on the dispute over the detention of the Arctic Sunrise ship and its crew in 2013. On Friday, May 17, the Netherlands Foreign Office in The Hague reported that as part of the final settlement of the conflict the Russian Federation will pay 2.7 million euros compensation to the international organization Greenpeace, the owner of the ship.
In addition, as one of the dispute settlement points, the Netherlands and Russia agreed to conduct joint research in the Russian part of the Arctic. Both sides will allocate funds for joint expeditions.
Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry called the resolution of the conflict around the Arctic Sunrise "an example of a friendly settlement of disputes," and indicated that this agreement was reached at the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe meeting in Helsinki. In Smolensk Square in Moscow, it was noted that the content of the agreement is confidential.
On September 18, 2013, Greenpeace environmentalists used the Arctic Sunrise ship under the flag of the Netherlands to protest at the Russian oil platform Prirazlomnaya, located in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation in the Barents Sea. The next day, Russian Special Forces soldiers landed aboard the Arctic Sunrise and the ship along with members of the expedition, was towed to Murmansk.
All those aboard the Arctic Sunrise were arrested and charged with administrative and criminal offences.
At the end of November 2013 sailors and environmentalists were released on bail and later amnestied on the basis of the resolution of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. On June 6, 2014, the Arctic Sunrise left Murmansk and returned to Amsterdam on August 9, 2014.
In July 2017, the Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in the case of Arctic Sunrise, recognizing the Russian Federation as guilty of violating the UN Convention on the Law of the sea and obliging it to pay 5.39 million euros to the Netherlands. However, Moscow did not recognized the authority of the Court in resolving such disputes and refused to pay the compensation.