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Five Norwegian Ministers to Murmansk

Norwegian Days in Murmansk.

The Norwegian Government sends its biggest delegation ever to Russia for the political talks following the signing of the agreement on border delineation in the Barents Sea.

Location

The historical Norwegian-Russian Treaty concerning the Maritime Delimitation and Cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Oceans will be signed in the building of the Murmansk County Administration at 15.00.

When the Russian and Norwegian Foreign Ministers Jonas Gahr Støre and Sergey Lavrov put their signatures on the Treaty, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and President Dmitry Medvedev will attend the ceremony from the stage.

In addition to the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, the Norwegian Government will be present with its Minister of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs, Mrs. Lisbeth Berg-Hansen, Minister of Environment, Mr. Erik Solheim and Minister and Chief of Staff at the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr. Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen.

The Treaty will be followed by agreements on joint Norwegian-Russian cooperation in the Barents Sea regarding fisheries, environmental safety and energy issues.

The Norwegian Government has hired two private aircrafts that will fly wing-by-wing from Oslo directly to Murmansk Wednesday morning.

With the Norwegian Governmental delegation will also follow several state secretaries and other officials. Mrs. Pia Svensgaard, County Governor of Troms, will represent the regional level. Svensgaard chairs the regional Barents Council for the period 2009-2011.

Read alsoTroms County Council held session in Murmansk

At the Murmashi airport in Murmansk the small Norwegian aircrafts will line up together with the Russian Presidential aircraft arriving from Moscow. It was the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Presidential Administration that wanted the signing of the Treaty with Norway to take place in Murmansk.

Commenting on the historical event in Murmansk, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg says:

- I am glad that we are able to sign the agreement at such an early date. This will be a historic occasion, after many years of negotiations culminating in agreement on the most important outstanding issue between Norway and Russia.

A Kremlin source speaking to Interfax says this Treaty with Norway is a practical example of the principles Russia considers all disputes in the Arctic to be solved, namely based on negotiations and international law.

The agreement establishes the maritime boundary between Norway and Russia in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean. It also includes provisions on the continuation of fisheries cooperation and cooperation on the management of any oil and gas deposits that extend across the delimitation line.

After the treaty has been signed, it will be submitted to the Norwegian Storting and Russian Duma for ratification. The text of the treaty will be made public after it is signed in Murmansk.

After the ceremony and political talks in Murmansk, all five of the Norwegian Ministers will fly out to Kirkenes, the Norwegian border-town where the Barents Declaration was signed back in 1993.

On Thursday, Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre continues to Arkhangelsk where he will open a Norwegian honorary consulate to be located together with the office of the Norwegian Barents Secretariat.