The 12th Ministerial Session of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council

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Dear friends and colleagues,

The city of Murmansk has been a focal point in the development of the Barents cooperation.

For Norwegians, Murmansk is strongly associated with the second World War, the positional warfare at the Litsa front, the allied convoys, and the liberation of Eastern Finnmark by the Red Army in October 1944.

Yesterday, I drove, together with (my close colleague) Carl (Bildt), from one Barents capital, Kirkenes, to another, Murmansk. It is a spectacular journey.

Along the road, we reflected on many of the issues that are important in the Barents region, the vast potential but also the immediate challenges – not least the severe polluting emissions from the Norilsk Nickel plant in Nikel, which we could see for ourselves as we drove by. We also discussed the two pillars of the Swedish chairman’s priorities for the next two years:

     industrial and economic development,
     and environmental issues.

Norway subscribes to these priorities. And we believe that industrial development can be combined with protection of the environment.

In my address I would like to put emphasis on four more points.

First I believe we all can agree that the regional cooperation here in the Barents region is a success story.

It is a tribute to those who have brought us where we are today – and a challenge to us here to take this even further. A strong friendship has been established between the 13 regional entities of the Barents region, and a new regional identity has been created. The national capitals support and encourage this. And it is a region of concrete, practical neighbourly cooperation. 

In the next four years, we will alternate Swedish–Norwegian chairmanships both at the national and regional level.

We have decided to work closely together. Our aim is also to have active and constructive dialogues with all the other Barents partners, at both national and regional level, and with the indigenous peoples of the region.

There are several regional organisations in the High North. There has been some discussion in recent years on the necessity of streamlining these organisations, to ensure more effective interaction and creative synergies.

It was praiseworthy that Russia held a coordination meeting in St. Petersburg last month of the four regional organisations: this council, the Arctic Council, the Council of Baltic Sea States and the Nordic Council of Ministers, as well as the partners of the Northern Dimension.

The common understanding seems to be that each organisation is unique and has its own particular value and priorities.

At the same time, we would like to see coordination and interaction. Several interesting proposals were made to this end in St. Petersburg. We will look at this closely.

I believe that the Barents cooperation has real and unique value, a solid foundation that we will develop further. Our regional cooperation here in the north may serve as an encouraging example to other regions in the world – it is indeed a success story to learn from.

The region is rich in resources, but they have to be managed wisely. The melting of the Arctic ice opens new possibilities, for example for new shipping routes, but will also create new challenges. And that brings me to my second point: Climate change is – and must be – at the top of our agenda.

Today we know that climate change is taking place most rapidly and most visibly in the Arctic. The region offers front row seats to study its causes and dynamics. And it is this knowledge that will determine whether humanity will be able to address the challenges posed by climate change. Knowledge – and close cooperation – will be important not least in the Barents region of the Arctic. For it is here that most people in the Arctic actually live.

I am pleased to see that climate change is now high on the agenda for the Barents cooperation. A valuable conference on this topic was held early in September in the Norwegian town Vadsø.

We should all be looking ahead to the upcoming UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December, and send a strong message on the need for an ambitious global agreement – which is vital to the Barents region as well as to the world as a whole.

My third point is actually the region’s first and foremost resource: its people. I think we all agree that the greatest success of the Barents cooperation is what we call people-to-people contacts. We see that these contacts are flourishing and developing further. I would especially like to commend the work being done in the cultural field and among young people.

We have three indigenous peoples in the Barents cooperation. We support the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples (WGIP) and encourage their participation in working groups in the Barents cooperation. But this has to be financed, and I encourage all of the partners to do their part.

In my view, close cooperation with the indigenous peoples in the Arctic Council, including through the International Barents Secretariat and the Arctic Council Secretariat should be explored. Norway is ready to support new indigenous projects.

We commend the work of the IBS and welcome possible new secondments. As before, we will rely on the Norwegian Barents Secretariat to implement common Barents projects and to continue its work as a practical think-tank in the field.        

Finally, to my fourth point: economic cooperation, which is a key factor for the continued development of our success story. After this ministerial meeting, we will all participate at the opening of Murmansk Economic Forum. We thus pass from words to action. The best way to address the impact of the current economic crisis is to enhance economic cooperation.

Just to the north of where we are, we can expect to see an industrial development without precedence, linked to the vast energy potential in the Barents Sea – creating economic opportunities that will also have a global impact.

The spin-off effects could be substantial for the Barents region. This is an opportunity the five and a half million inhabitants who live here should make the most of.

A lot has to be done before this vision can materialise, not least in improving communications and logistics. We should in particular focus on the region’s bottlenecks, be it customs, border crossings or other forms. But I am convinced that we will rise to the challenges.

Great wealth will be created in the High North in the next decades. We want a stable and prosperous Barents region. We must all play our part, and I believe the Barents cooperation is an excellent arena for such teamwork.  

The High North has been the number one foreign policy priority of my Government. After four years in government we were recently re-elected. The High North will continue to be a top priority.