The Kirkenes conference gathers participants from Norway, Russia and other European countries and is regarded as a high-profile meeting place for politics and businesses in the borderland between east and west in the High North.
Following the escalation of the war in eastern Ukraine, EU’s Foreign Ministers met in Brussels last week discussing possible more sanctions on Russia. The sanctions are also followed by Norway.
EU both extended the Russian black-list for another half year and began preparations for a new round of economic sanctions. The ministers also promissed to add extra names to the list of Russian and Crimean individuals blacklisted in the EU. A decision whether to move ahead with more economic sanctions against Moscow is likely to be taken at the next EU SUmmit in mid-March, reports EUObserver.
Speaking to BarentsObserver in January, Børge Brende said Russia’s behaviour is deeply worrying.
“There is no doubt that the last year has been special. Russia has violated international law in Ukraine and captured a part of another European country. Norway will never compromise on international law.”
“Russia is the one that has the key. If Russia adherence to the Minsk agreement, to international law, there will come a normalization. Putin is the one with the key,” Børge Brende said.
At the Kirkenes conferance, Russia is represented with Murmansk Governor Marina Kovtun. She will speak after Brende and before Carl Bildt.
Despite colder climate between east and west, the Barents cooperation with it’s people-to-people contacts across borders between the Scandinavian north and Russia contiunes as before. Yesterday, BarentsObserver reproted that the Norwegian Government granted additional funding to the Barents Secretariat’s funding program for cross-border projects.
