OREANDA-NEWS. On the eve of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council meeting Dmitry Medvedev met with Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and Prime Minister of Finland Jyrki Katainen.

Dmitry Medvedev: Mr Chairman, prime ministers, ladies and gentlemen. First of all I’d like to express my gratitude to Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg for the excellent conditions that have been provided for our work, and to thank the residents of Kirkenes for their hospitality. It is very good that we have had an opportunity to experience different weather – yesterday it was unusual and today it is traditional. I suppose this is how it should be.
It is in this city that the representatives of Russia, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden and the European Commission signed a declaration on cooperation 20 years ago. Since then the Barents Euro-Arctic Council has become an effective and essential mechanism of regional cooperation. The Council facilitates trust and a search for mutually acceptable solutions and ways of settling contradictions. One such way is well demonstrated by the document about which Mr Stoltenberg has just spoken. I’m referring to the Treaty on Maritime Delimitation and Cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean that we signed with him not very long ago.
I’m convinced that our Council has very good prospects for more active work, for the implementation of joint programmes and initiatives, including those in the format of public-private partnerships. We must focus our cooperation on specific projects. We spoke about this with our colleagues during dinner yesterday. It is necessary to provide them with mechanisms of funding. The proposals of our delegation and of other countries were also discussed yesterday. At any rate there are plenty of positive examples in this sphere. I’m referring to the activities of the Council of the Baltic Sea States, and regional mechanisms like the Black Sea Bank for Trade and Development. We must analyse all this and make a choice. I suggest we instruct our foreign ministers to review this issue at the October session.

The development of transport communications is of major importance for enhancing competitive advantages. We also discussed this yesterday. We spoke about surface transportation, including new railways and, of course, the commercial development of the Northern Sea Route, which is the shortest link between Europe and the Asia-Pacific Region. Its freight traffic has increased ten-fold in the last three years and this is a very positive fact.
For its part, Russia will upgrade its coastal and port infrastructure and develop modern systems of monitoring, navigation and communications.

Easier transportation access to the Arctic territories creates favourable conditions for implementing large-scale investment projects, including those on raw materials, hydrocarbons and the continental shelf.

We proceed from the premise that the development of the Barents Region should rely on the principles of equilibrium, stability and the highest environmental standards. Quite recently, two month ago, many of us who are present here met at the productive Baltic Sea Forum in St Petersburg. We reached an agreement on implementing the St Petersburg initiative there. Today we are continuing this dialogue in Kirkenes.

We have proclaimed this year the Year of the Environment in Russia. Our experts are drafting a programme for eliminating the accumulated damage to the environment. We are continuing to engage in what we have called full-scale cleaning of the Arctic. We have already cleaned Alexandra Land and Bely Island. Cleaning works are underway on Graham Bell Island and the village of Anderma. Wrangel Island is next. We will continue this work in Russia by all means because we consider it very important.

In September Salekhard will play host to an international conference, titled The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue. Its agenda also includes environmental issues. We invite all those interested to attend it. Naturally, plans for the development of the Arctic mineral wealth should take into account the interests and rights of the indigenous people of the North. I believe the Council should continue giving priority to the preservation of their native environment, traditional way of life and cultural values, and should help them create the necessary socio-economic conditions for this.

Interregional ties between 13 administrative areas in Russia’s North-West, Sweden, Finland and Norway represent another dimension of our cooperation. In autumn the presidency of the Barents regional council will be transferred to our Arkhangelsk Region. We believe this regional approach helps us consider the interests and requirements of specific territories.

And, of course, most important is communication between our citizens. In this sense we have made a breakthrough during these 20 years – in 2010 Russia and Norway signed an agreement on the local border regime to facilitate travel for border residents. As a result, the number of border crossings has increased substantially. In fact, now we have to chance the capacity of border check points to make such crossings comfortable. Some 120,000 people have crossed the border at this section in the last five months of the year alone.

Easier travel rules encourage the development of tourism, small-sized business, and scientific, cultural and educational exchanges. We believe the transition to visa-free travel is in the interests of the Barents Region. This has already been mentioned. But this is an issue for other interstate and intergovernmental meetings. Finally, I’d like to thank you for your attention and once again convey my gratitude to the Norwegian side for their excellent organisation of this event. Thank you!