Easier border crossing a priority

Norway’s Foreign Minister, Jonas Gahr (front) and Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt Carl Bildt crossed the border from Norway. Photo: Thomas Nilsen.

The Foreign Ministers of the Barents Region will continue to work for easier border crossings, reports the Barents Observer on Oct. 15. A new group is also working on developing tourism in the region, and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says: “It’s a serious task.”

The work to establish a so-called borderzone visa free travel in the areas of Kirkenes and Pechenga was initiated after Norway’s Foreign Minister and Lavrov’s joint visit to the Norwegian border town of Kirkenes in June last year.

“We have already achived a lot in this fields, and will continue our work with Moscow make it easier for people and traffic in the areas near the Norwegian-Russian border,” Norway’s Foreign Minister said at the press-conference after the Barents Council meeting in Murmansk on Oct. 15.

“A lot has happened since the establishment of the Barents Region. In 1990, some 3,000 people crossed the Norwegian-Russian border in the north, last year it was more than 100,000 border-crossings,” Støre said at the press-conference.

Read more on the Barents Observer.