The chair reserved for Sergei Lavrov at the welcoming dinner Monday evening was instead taken Vladimir Titov, Moscow’s Deputy Foreign Minister. He will also be the one representing Russia when the official talks take place Tuesday morning. Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark are represented with their Foreign Ministers, while Iceland and the EU are represented by other officals.
It is the first time since the Barents cooperation was established in 1993 that the Russian Foreign Minister doesn’t participate. The 20-year long lasting Barents cooperation is generally viewed as one of the most successful cross-border cooperation in today’s Europe.
Last Friday, Norway’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Børge Brende met Sweden’s Carl Bildt in Stockholm. Among other issues, the Barents cooperation was on the agenda, including human right issues in Russia.
“Bildt and I have discussed how we, in a most constructive way, can raise our concerns,” Brende said to NTB before the Barents Council meeting.
“We have not gone into details. But in a broad dialog is it also naturally to bring up concerns for human rights, including the latest development regarding the situations for sexual minorities,” says Børge Brende.
The Barents Council meeting is also expected to agree on the creation of ad hoc expert group to develop details of the mechanism of financing projects in the Barents region. The Council will get a draft plan on the table for the development of transport systems in the Barents Region.
Sweden and Norway’s Foreign Ministers, Carl Bildt (left) and Børge Brende in Tromsø. (Photo: Thomas Nilsen)
Giving his first speech as Norway’s new Foreign Minister at the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø Monday afternoon, Børge Brende told the audience that it is high time to build east-west transport corridors from Norway to Russia, Sweden and Finland. “25 years ago, the border was a barrier, today we should make it into a bridge,” said Brende.
