- We have agreed to exchange electronic information from our vessels and aircrafts in northern waters, says Rear Admiral Trond Grytting, Deputy Chief of Norway’s military operational headquarters.
Norwegian military officials and Russia’s Border Guard Service in Murmansk Oblast met in Kirkenes on Tuesday and Wednesday this week and agreed on their cooperation for 2010. This was the first visit to Norway by newly appointed Commanding Officer of the Border Guard Service in Murmansk General Sergey Kudryashov.
See slide-show: from the visit
The delegation from the Russian Border Guard Service in Murmansk, responsible for both the land- and sea border, was met by commanding officer General Bernt Iver Ferdinand Brovold and other high ranking Norwegian military officials.
The official meeting took place onboard Norway’s newest Coast Guard vessel, KV Barentshav, anchored in the Norwegian border town of Kirkenes on Tuesday.
Read also: Norwegian-Russian border guard cooperation
Before the official annual meeting, the two countries delegations were briefed by the Norwegian Barents Secretariat about the wide-ranging civilian people-to-people cooperation between Norway and Russia in the north.
At the meeting with the Norwegian Barents Secretariat, General Sergey Kudryashov said: - The border between Norway and Russia should not hamper legal activities. The Border Guard service will support economical cooperation and contacts over the borders.
On Wednesday, the delegation from the Russian Border Guard Service visited one of the six border guard stations along the 196 kilometer long Norwegian border to Russia. Here, commander of the Sør-Varanger Garrison (GSV), Lieutenant Colonel Jørn Erik Berntsen informed about the Norwegian plans to replace all six existing border guard stations with two new ones.
General Sergey Kudryashov also got the chance to see how the Norwegian Border Guard soldiers were training with dogs to catch and neutralize a person illegally trying to cross the border in the harsh Norwegian winter climate.
Read also: New Head of Murmansk Border Guard Service
- We had a useful and good meeting with our Norwegian partners regarding the cooperation in the north, General Sergey Kudryashov told BarentsObserver after the meetings. FSB’s Border Guard Service in Murmansk Oblast is both responsible for guarding the land border and operates the Russian Coast Guard in the Barents Sea.
The Norwegian Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Service of Murmansk Oblast have agreed upon several common tasks for cooperation. The exchange of electronic information will help improve the fight against illegal fishing and other illegal activities in the Barents Sea area, waters where Norway and Russia jointly agrees on stocks quota.
Also, the two parties agreed to exchange officers from each other’s Coast Guard vessels.
