This year’s opening of the Barents Spektakel was the most poetic and mystical in years.

KIRKENES: U.S. Ambassador to Norway Barry B. White says there is no competition for resources or a race for the Arctic. “We all have a common interest in preserving the Arctic area even as we pursue sustainable development.”

KIRKENES: The Barents Spektakel festival in Kirkenes is larger than ever. One of the main attractions of the 2012 festival is the five young accordionists from North Korea. See the video of their first performance in Kirkenes.

KIRKENES: Transnational ideas and interaction is a powerful engine for development, Guvernor Dmitry Dmitriyenko says in the Kirkenes Conference.

Kirkenes is preparing for the Barents Spektakel 2012 festival. Stages for performances are being built, concerts are being rehearsed, people are arriving from near and far.

Next January marks the 20th anniversary of signing the Kirkenes declaration establishing the Barents cooperation. Norway now wants to take successful cross-border cooperation a step further and asks for input to a Kirkenes declaration, part II.

Norway announces an initiative to invest about 6 million NOK in a Norwegian-Russian project that will assess the technology needed to develop the untapped oil fields in the Arctic region, particularly in the Barents Sea.

Barents Spektakel arts and culture festival in Kirkenes near the Russian border opens this week with cross-border artists from around the world. A highlight is North Koreans performing “Take on Me.” See the video here.

Norwegian Government relocates State Secretary – no longer responsible for Barents.

Radio Barents 111 is a theatre performance which tries to explore life along the border in the north. Miles away from foreign minister’s negotiations on border regulations; the Samovarteateret wants to figure out why people live in the far north of Europe.