Alexander Stubb, famous in the Barents Region for branding the north as the world´s most sexy region, is put on track to take over after Jyrki Katainen.
Expansion of the zone for visa-free border-crossing, cooperation in the Arctic, closer contact between the parliaments of the two nations and the situation for sexual minorities in Russia were among the issues up for discussion.
The official visit from Murmansk was to strengthen relations between Norwegian government and the neighboring Russian region. Instead, it all ended up as another example of the current east-west chill.
Environment Minister Ville Niinistö has taken to social media to defend comments he made to the influential business daily Financial Times, where he charged that Finland has been kow-towing to Russia in its foreign policy.
Norway’s Former Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland and other members of the organization The Elders are in Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
-Russians are welcome to Norway, the Norwegian Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion said when presenting the new Norwegian white paper on work immigration today. The new Norwegian legislation might mark a historic point in Norwegian-Russian cross-border relations
It would be in the West’s interest to include Russia in its political, economic and security plans, researcher Michael Emerson from the Centre for European Policy Studies writes in a new paper. He believes the next EU-Russia treaty should include emphasis on visa-free travel, free trade in goods and services, as well as rules relating to energy investments
Norwegian PM Jens Stoltenberg says he is proud about what his government has achieved in the High North. He underlines that the High North focus now will be reflected in national infrastructure plans.
President Dmitry Medvedev today came to Petrozavodsk, Republic of Karelia, where he chaired a session in the State Council. He also met with regional Governor Sergey Katanandov.
