Good neighbourly relations and international cooperation

The Arctic is a peaceful region with clear boundaries and close international cooperation. Norway’s relations with Russia are good, and regional cooperation is growing. Norway wishes to strengthen and further develop these positive trends.

Important issues regarding Norway’s maritime boundaries have been clarified in the last decade. The outer limits of our continental shelf have been established (in 2009), and the Treaty concerning Maritime Delimitation and Cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean came into force in 2011. Clear boundaries open up opportunities for increased activity and closer cooperation. But this also means that Norway has a major responsibility. Up-to-date information and integrated management plans are vital if we are to use the resources in a sensible way so that they can also benefit future generations. The approach taken by Norway in this respect has attracted considerable international interest.

20 years of fruitful cooperation
Norway’s cross-border cooperation with Russia has developed further in many areas. Across what used to be a closed border, there is now cultural exchange, trade and cooperation that has had a real effect on people’s day to day lives. The number of Russian students in Norway has more than doubled since 2008, and around 30 Norwegian companies have set up business in Murmansk. Russia is now the largest market for Norwegian fish exports.

Stoltenberg and Medvedev at the Storskog border 4 June 2013. Photo: Kilian Munch

The introduction of a visa-free local border traffic regime in 2012 has further facilitated cooperation. Cross-border traffic doubled from 2005 to 2012, and in 2013 will probably amount to more than 300 000 crossings. The Government intends to build a new border station at Storskog in Sør-Varanger, as set out in the white paper Opportunities and Challenges in the High North.

The Barents cooperation, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2013, has helped to normalise cross-border contact in the north, and has given regional leaders and indigenous peoples a stronger voice in international forums.

The Arctic Council has strengthened its international position, and is the most important forum for Arctic issues. It now has a permanent secretariat in Tromsø and new observers have been admitted. The member states of the Arctic Council have entered into two important agreements in record time on strengthening cooperation and coordination in the area of oil pollution emergency preparedness and search and rescue.