Foreign Ministry Spokesman Alexander Lukashevich’s interview with Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency in connection with FM Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Norway Rossiya Segodnya: It was announced that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit Norway on 24-25 October. What are the goals and agenda of this visit? Alexander Lukashevich: Minister Lavrov will visit Norway (Kirkenes) at the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway Borge Brende. The visit was timed to coincide with a major event in Russian-Norwegian relations, the 70th anniversary of the Red Army’s liberation of northern Norway. The ministers will meet on 25 October to discuss practical aspects of Russian-Norwegian cooperation in such key areas as trade and economic relations, including energy and commercial fishing, environmental protection, nuclear and radiation safety, strengthening ties between our northern regions and in the border area, Russia’s economic and scientific presence on Spitsbergen archipelago, as well as promoting cultural and civil society contacts. Due to outside factors related to events in Ukraine, the ministers will consider the prospects for continued bilateral political dialogue. The sides will exchange views on regional cooperation in the North (the Arctic Council, the Barents Euro-Arctic Council, the Council of the Baltic Sea States, and the Northern Dimension), as well as current international issues. Rossiya Segodnya: How do Norwegians today view our nations’ joint efforts to liberate northern Norway from the Nazis? Alexander Lukashevich: The Soviet liberation of eastern Finnmark from the invading Nazi forces in 1944 is of paramount importance for Russian-Norwegian relations. The nationwide celebrations in Kirkenes with the participation of King Harald V and Prime Minister Erna Solberg affirm the sincerity of emotion with which the Russians and the Norwegians regard this event and the sanctity of our shared historical memory, and serve to strengthen neighbourly relations that cannot be eroded by fleeting political considerations. The Norwegian people honour the memory of the Soviet soldiers who brought them freedom. Soviet military burial sites are maintained in perfect order, and painstaking work is done to identify those who died in Norway-based Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Rossiya Segodnya: Which anniversary events will Minister Lavrov attend? Alexander Lukashevich: In Kirkenes, the Minister will meet with Russian and Norwegian WWII veterans and attend the opening of the Rorbua historical monument, which is the building over which the Norwegian flag was raised on 25 October 70 years ago as a symbol of the start of the countrys liberation from Nazi Germany. The Minister will also present Marianne Neerland Soleim, director of the Barents Institute at the Arctic University of Norway, who led the project to identify Soviet prisoners of war who died and were buried in Norway during WWII, with a letter of gratitude signed by President Putin for her significant contribution to carrying on the memory of the soldiers who died defending their Fatherland and the preservation of Soviet military graves. Rossiya Segodnya: How would you characterise Russian-Norwegian relations given the prominence of sanctions in Europe’s policy toward our country and the Ukraine crisis? Alexander Lukashevich: Until recently, relations between Russia and Norway were expanding rapidly across all key areas. However, they slowed down significantly due to disagreements over Ukraine. Because Norway automatically followed the European Union’s lead in adopting anti-Russian sanctions and Oslo unilaterally decided to curtail entire spheres of cooperation, our political dialogue is incomplete, and our military and parliamentary relations have been put on hold. We haven’t held sessions of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Industrial, Research and Technical Cooperation or the Commission on the Environment. Several ministerial visits have been cancelled. Such policies are at odds with the political and economic interests of countries that have spent decades building partnerships with Russia. We believe Norway is one such country, and we would like to see it as a stable and reliable partner. The fact that Norway joined the EU economic sanctions hasn’t yet significantly affected our bilateral trade. The measures that Russia was forced to take in response have led to a stoppage of imports of many food items from Norway, including fish and seafood. Continuing down this path will inevitably have a negative impact on bilateral trade and investment. Regrettably, in addition to joining the EU sanctions, in March, Norway initiated the suspension of the nearly completed talks on a free trade zone between the Customs Union and the EFTA. Despite these unfavourable developments, business-to-business ties remain unaffected. The Fourth Russian-Norwegian Business Forum is scheduled for 11 December in Moscow. Rossiya Segodnya: Which areas of Russian-Norwegian trade and economic relations stand out as the most productive? Alexander Lukashevich: Until recently, the Russian-Norwegian strategic partnership in the energy sector was doing fairly well, but the fact that Norway joined the EU sanctions on the oil and gas industry and takes its cues from the United States poses a threat to our mutually beneficial cooperation on major projects in Russia. Our cooperation on commercial fishing continues to be based on mutual trust and pragmatism, which was confirmed at the 44th meeting of the Joint Fisheries Commission held in Oslo on 7-10 October. The Russian side seeks to move rapidly toward completing the harmonisation of technical regulations of fisheries, accelerate the harmonisation of the concept of “discarded fish” and develop instructions for carrying out inspections of fishing vessels. Resolving these problems would largely remove the sensitive issue of Russian ships being detained in the waters off Spitsbergen. Our cooperation on environmental protection is coordinated by the appropriate bilateral commission and yields good results. A Russian-Norwegian expedition to the area in the Barents Sea where submarine K-159 crashed, which ended in September, was held as part of a joint study of pollution in northern territories. We maintain productive cooperation in the sphere of nuclear and radiation safety in northwestern Russia, for which there is a corresponding bilateral commission. Its 17th meeting was held at the Kola Nuclear Power Plant on 24 September, and several important decisions on further joint activities were taken. Rossiya Segodnya: What’s your take on the level of inter-regional and cross-border cooperation between Russia and Norway? Are there any new developments related to Russia’s presence on Spitsbergen? Alexander Lukashevich: In order to maintain the coordinated efforts to improve cooperation between neighbouring regions, it’s imperative to have the INC Working Group on inter-regional and cross-border cooperation continue its work. It will meet in Norway in 2015 to adopt an updated action plan on cross-border cooperation. Comprehensive work is underway to fortify, modernise and diversify the Russian presence on Spitsbergen. We seek to build cooperation with the Norwegian side based on a constructive dialogue to address issues related to Russian economic and research activities on Spitsbergen. We underscore the need to forge a common understanding of the legal framework for regulating economic activity off the archipelago by the states that signed the 1920 Treaty on the Status of Spitsbergen. Rossiya Segodnya: How active are Russian-Norwegian contacts at multilateral regional forums? Alexander Lukashevich: In terms of regional cooperation in the North, the Arctic Council (AC) has stepped up its activities. We expect the AC target group to prepare a legally binding agreement on strengthening research cooperation in the Arctic. We look forward to continuing our cooperation in the Barents Euro-Arctic Council during Russia’s upcoming presidency in 2015-2017. We value our cooperation with Norway in the Council of the Baltic Sea States, which is one of the key organisations working to create an area of stability, security and prosperity in Northern Europe. The Northern Dimension is an important component of equitable and mutually beneficial cooperation in Europe. It focuses on specific partnership-based projects that are worth over 3 billion euros. Rossiya Segodnya: What aspects of bilateral cultural cooperation are most important to Russia? Alexander Lukashevich: Our cultural efforts focus on protecting childrens rights, including in mixed marriages. We have proposed a bilateral mechanism that would help the relevant authorities work together in this sphere. The importance of this issue is confirmed by ongoing incidents involving Norwegian foster agencies taking away children who are exclusively Russian citizens. The latest example on 8 October involved a foster family getting custody of the son of a Tromsø-based Russian citizen, Ms Sharikova. The child does not have dual citizenship, only Russian. We expect this case to be resolved in a fair manner, and we will continue to steadfastly protect the rights and interests of our citizens.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 05:50:56 +0000
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