“A green future for the Barents Region!” a group of demonstrators from the Nature and Youth organization shouted as the Russian premier’s limousine rolled up in front of the Barents Summit conference hotel Monday evening.
Two big banners, one in Russian and one in Norwegian, calling for “Environmental protection and Human Rights”, were held well visible for the Russian cabinet leader and the hundreds of invited Summit guests.
As previously reported, Premier Medvedev will attend tomorrow’s prime ministers’ meeting with colleagues from Norway, Finland, Iceland, as well as top-level officials from Sweden and the European Commission.
In the Summit, the Russian PM is joined by Icelandic Prime Minster Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Vice President of the European Commission Siim Kallas, as well as representatives from a number of other countries.
Environmental cooperation is expected to be one of the key issues of discussion in Tuesday’s meetings. A second Kirkenes Declaration, outlining priorities for cooperation in the Barents Region, will be presented to the public and is believed to stress the need for joint action in handling challenges coming from climate change and expanding industrial activities in vulnerable Arctic environments.
