"Barents Cooperation remains priority for Norway"

Mr. Støre participated in the 15-year anniversary celebrations for the Barents Cooperation, taking place in the Norwegian border town of Kirkenes today.

People in focus

The foreign minister, who has made the High North a top priority in Norwegian foreign policies, in his speech highlighted the important role of cooperation between people on all sides of the regional borders. –Norway and Russia are not yet finished with getting to know each other yet, he said. –People-to-people cooperation must continue, he stressed.

-Contacts between people remain vital when regional businesses succeed in Northwest Russia, he said. –Only hard and long-term working gives the wanted results.

The foreign minister also reiterated his desired long-term goal for relations with Russia – to make relations with the country as good as with the other Nordic countries. –Our border should be a bridge for contacts between Norway and Russia, and part of a new security policy, Mr. Støre said.

Internationalization

The Barents Cooperation was initiated by Norwegian authorities in 1993, and has since primarily developed in Norwegian-Russian relations. -Norway and Russia are today the engines in the Barents Cooperation, the minister said. At the same time, he indicated that both Finland, Sweden and the EU might in the years to come become far more active cooperation partners.

Also Russia is likely to remain an active member of the regional cooperation. In an OECD meeting in Madrid last fall, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is reported to have said that the Barents Cooperation is the most important regional cooperation for Russia.

Pomor Zone

Norwegian authorities have the last year had the establishment of an economic and industrial zone in the Norwegian-Russian borderland as a priority. In his speech, Mr. Støre said that he sees the proposed “Pomor Zone” as metaphor. –I have never thought that this will be a zone with concrete borders, he stressed, adding that the border zone still could be the site for important economic and industrial developments.