First time Norwegian governmental officials suggested to expand the opening hours at Storskog – Borisoglebsk border crossing point was back in August 2004.
Meeting together with the Norwegian Barents Secretariat, state secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kim Traavik raised the issue when he received the Presidential Envoy to Northwest Russia Ilya Klebanov at the Storskog border station.
But despite six years, and many statements from both Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, the opening hours at the Norwegian-Russian border are still the same. The border opens 9 am Russian time (7 am Norwegian time) and close 23 pm Russian time (21 pm Norwegian time).
The issue will be on the agenda at President Dmitri Medvedev’s meeting with Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. Speaking to Interfax, a source in Kremlin says the border crossing point now will be granted international status.
The classification “International status” gives Borisoglebsk more federal funding and requires more personnel. And by that, the opening hours can be expanded. On the Norwegian side, the police in charge of the border check point at Storskog says they have already implemented the expanded opening hours in their budgets and personnel plans.
Read also: Russia completed upgrade of road to Norwegian border
The opening hours will first be expanded three hours. The border will open one hour earlier in the morning and close two hours later in the evening. In the longer run, the goal is a border check point that is open round-the-clock, like all other of Norway’s external borders.
Read also: Visa-free border travel: First Poland – then Norway?
Over the last few months there has been a boost in people crossing the Russian-Norwegian border in the north. 20 percent more people crossed the border in the first six months of 2010 compared with the same period the year before. The increase has never been higher in a half year period since the early 90-ties.
If the trend continues, more than 120,000 people will cross the border in 2010.
