Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Petersen

Opening address – “Barents Rescue 2005”

Porsangermoen, Finnmark, 3 September 2005

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Excellencies, Governors, ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you all to the opening of Barents Rescue 2005.

This exercise is being held at a time when there is already a lot of attention on the High North, both in Norway and in other countries.

One third of mainland Norway lies north of the Arctic Circle. Norwegian territory reaches far into the Arctic Ocean. The High North has always been – and will continue to be – an important part of Norwegian foreign policy, for strategic, economic and cultural reasons.

Norway has a strong interest in these areas. Currently our attention is on the management of the rich natural resources. Norway’s petroleum activities are moving north.

In June the Storting expressed wide support for the Government’s initiative presented in a white paper on the opportunities and challenges in the northern areas. The main thrust of our policy is to ensure that more international attention and co-operation will be focused on these areas.

The Barents Rescue exercise is a contribution to – and living proof of – the rapid development of cross-border co-operation in the region.

Profound changes have taken place in these areas since the cold war. The border between Norway and Russia was one of the two frontiers where NATO and Soviet forces directly faced each other. This is no longer the case.

Today, the High North is one of the most peaceful corners of Europe. East-West confrontation has been replaced by co-operation and common concern about the challenges we face.

However, the developments in the High North also reflect the broader global agenda, including new security threats from terrorist networks, illegal migration, environmental or nuclear hazards, and other sources.

The Barents Rescue exercise illustrates the nature of the threats our societies are facing. They are becoming more complex. And large-scale, dangerous activities are conducted daily in industry, transport and other sectors.

We are also vulnerable to natural disasters. The tsunami in the Indian Ocean in December and the hurricane that hit the United States this week are reminders of the forces of nature.

We must constantly work on finding ways of improving our early warning systems, and of preventing and limiting the effects of natural disasters.

And we face the threat of international terrorism, which is able to strike anywhere at any moment. It has devastating effects in terms of human suffering and material damage. It gives rise to a feeling of fear and insecurity in our societies.

Modern media and information technology rapidly spread the news. A disaster in a neighbouring country immediately becomes our common concern.

The disaster Barents Rescue 2005 is dealing with is a mass casualty situation at sea, which again can lead to a major environmental crisis. The ‘Hurtigruta’ cruise ship Finnmarken has collided with a Russian oil tanker. And both ships have caught fire. There are more than 600 passengers and a crew of 70 on board Finnmarken and a crew of 20 on board the tanker. The tanker is carrying 35.000 tonnes of crude oil. This is the terrifying disaster scenario. The Norwegian rescue services need assistance, and they turn to our Barents neighbours for help. There is for example an urgent need of helicopters.

The training scenario shows clearly how challenges of this kind call for international co-operation, not only in words, but also in the field.

We need to strengthen our joint ability to respond to emergencies, and we need to protect our people, infrastructure and natural environment against threats.

But first and foremost we need to prevent disasters from happening in the first place.

One of the challenges here in the High North is the great distances between population centres. Rescue and emergency response resources are often far away.

It makes sense to expand co-operation – I mean direct co-operation – so that resources in one country can quickly be transferred to another.

There is already such co-operation between the authorities in the Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish parts of the Barents Region. And the Russian parts are becoming involved to an increasing degree.

Examples of emergencies that require cross-border co-operation are industrial accidents, oil spills or other disasters at sea, large forest fires, serious traffic accidents and other medical emergencies, and searches for missing persons. Barents Rescue 2005 contains several of these emergency situations.

In the Barents region there are few rescue resources in relation to the vast area. We need to draw on the resources of several countries in an emergency.

It makes more sense to use an ambulance or fire engine that is only 20 kilometres away across the border, than to summon one from your own country that is 200 kilometres away. Joint use of helicopter resources in emergency situations is in our mutual interest.

All of this must be systematically developed, put on a firm organisational footing and practised through regular exercises.

We may never be able to cover all kinds of possible emergency situations in an area as large as the Barents region. But a good start has been made.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Developments in the Barents region reflect the broader global security agenda. During my two-year term as chairman of the Barents Council, co-operation on emergency and rescue services has been one of my priorities.

The Barents co-operation is a key tool in our northern areas policy. It has now entered its second decade and it has proved to be a success. This is due not least to the active, efficient and operational contacts at the regional level.

Trust has been built. Active cross-border networks are being created. Personal bonds and friendships are being strengthened day by day.

I am pleased that the Barents co-operation is at the forefront in promoting collaboration and joint action in emergency situations.

Barents Rescue 2005 builds on the exercise held in northern Sweden in September 2001, just a few days after the terror attacks on the United States. This exercise was held in the spirit of the Partnership for Peace.

Norway has continued to build on this initiative during its chairmanship of the Barents Council.

When the Prime Ministers of the member countries met in Kirkenes in January 2003 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Barents co-operation, they decided to hold a second large exercise. Norway offered to host it here in Finnmark.

Barents Rescue 2005 is the largest civilian-military search, rescue and crisis management exercise ever conducted in Norway. The complex setting is both national and international.

Barents Rescue is a national effort to strengthen our own ability to prevent and counteract emergencies and disasters.

Furthermore, the purpose of the exercise is to facilitate co-operation between countries, and between civilian and military services that might become involved in an emergency in the region.

The focus is on practical co-operation. For example, speed is vital for rescue operations to succeed. And speed can only be achieved if partners know each other, are able to communicate, and know which rules to play by. Barents Rescue provides training in using networks and procedures.

The scenario largely involves the sea and coastal areas. Norway’s long coastline has always presented hazards to seafarers, fishermen and to others.

Now, there is rapidly growing interest in the resource potential of the Arctic. Large oil and gas fields will be developed offshore in the Barents Sea. This will provide a dramatic boost to the economy and infrastructure of the region.

But increased economic activity will place new demands on the use of the natural resources in the region.

The challenge will be to strike the right balance between environmental concerns and economic activities - such as fisheries, tourism, and industrial production, and increasingly shipping, petroleum production and oil transport activities.

All these concerns lie at the heart of the Government’s overall policy for the High North.

Ladies and gentlemen,

One part of the exercise, the Barents Rescue Alarm exercise, was held two days ago. The alarm part taught us important lessons about information flows between agencies and countries, and about joint decision-making procedures.

An agreement on closer co-operation in emergencies, in order to facilitate collaboration when disasters strike, is currently being considered. I hope to finalise this work either under the Barents umbrella or together with the Arctic Council.

Let me conclude by thanking everyone who has been involved in the long phase of preparation, especially the Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergency Planning, the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Bodø, the Norwegian police and armed forces, the County Governor of Finnmark, the Mayors of Nordkapp and Porsanger, and not least the many volunteers.

I wish all the participants a safe and successful exercise.

I hope it will provide many lessons learned that will improve emergency co-operation in the Barents region and beyond.

If disaster should strike we will all be better prepared to respond in concert.

Thank you.

• Read more: Barents Rescue
• Press Release (Norwegian)