Many of the challenges experienced in cross-border relations are similar in different border regions. That is the background for a new unique cooperation now initiated between the Norwegian Barents Secretariat and partners in Slovakia.
The Norwegian Barents Secretariat has become socalled Donor Programme Partner for the EEA/Norway Grant Programme on Cross-border cooperation in Slovakia. The agreement gives the Secretariat a unique possibility to share its experience from cross-border cooperation in the Barents Region with partners in Central Europe, and to learn about experiences from another border region.
-The Barents Secretariat has been engaged in cross-border cooperation for more than 18 years and has accumulated valuable experiences in how to stimulate relations, says Rune Rafaelsen, General Director of the Barents Secretariat. –At the same time, we need to learn from other European border regions, he underlines.
The Barents Secretariat manages a grants fund on behalf of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry. The grants all include both Norwegian and Russian partners and a significant share of the projects supported are small people-to-people projects including local organizations and grass-root initiatives.
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The Carpathian region, which includes both Slovakia, Ukraine, Poland and Romania, has a long history of cross-border cooperation. In 1993, cooperation in the region was formalized with the establishment of the Carpathian Euroregion.
Slovakia has 97 km long border with Ukraine. After the inclusion of Slovakia in the Schengen Code in 2007, cross-border trade and cooperation experienced a downturn following new and stricter regulations on cross-border travelling. Still, in 2008 the border was crossed by some 2.8 million people and over 1.5 million transportation objects. On the Norwegian-Russian border, the proportions are far smaller with about 140.000 border crossers in 2010.
Under the new Donor Programme Partner agreement, the Barents Secretariat will help facilitate networking, exchange, sharing and transfer of knowledge, technology, experience and good practices between public entities in Norway and Slovakia.
The EEA and Norwegian Financial Mechanism includes 15 beneficiary countries and 1.79 billion EUR to be spent on projects in the period 2009-2014. Priorities include environmental protection and climate change, research and scholarships, civil society, health and children, gender equality, strengthening judicial affairs and cultural heritage. A total of 32 programme areas, among them a programme on cross-border cooperation, have been set up.
Read more about the EEA and Norwegian Financial Mechanism at eeagrants.org
Read more about the Norwegian Barents Secretariat at the secretariat website
