ID :
186394
Sat, 06/04/2011 - 08:30
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/186394
The shortlink copeid
Russia-Norway cooperation to grow when Arctic agt takes effect-FM
OSLO, June 4 (Itar-Tass) -- The Russian-Norwegian agreement on
maritime delimitation and cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic
Ocean offers great opportunities for the development of business relations
between the two countries in a wide range of industries, primarily in oil
and gas, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store told Itar-Tass in an
interview. On June 7 in Oslo he will exchange ratification instruments
with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and a month after that the
treaty will formally enter into force.
"The upcoming event is very pleasant for our countries, because as a
result of years-long negotiations the most complicated issue in bilateral
relations has been resolved," said the Norwegian minister. He said the
natural wealth of the region should unite neighbors, and not alienate them.
"The existence of clear boundaries is the only politically correct
approach. And it can expand current cooperation between the two
countries," said Store. "For example, we have already worked out a
mutually beneficial partnership arrangement in the fishing sector, and
both countries are now expecting more," he said.
The minister believes that "the countries have left behind old
prejudices."
"The situation has changed, and in the Arctic we see that we have so
many common interests," he said.
"After the solution of the delimitation problem we have no other
burning foreign policy issues," Store stated. Further work, he said,
should be focused on such tasks as simplifying of the process of crossing
the state border and reducing bureaucratic obstacles to cooperation. Two
issues that remain relevant for Norway, he said, are environmental
pollution in the north and the difficulties in obtaining Russian visas for
representatives of Norwegian NGOs.
Bilateral talks on the division of the Barents Sea and the Arctic
Ocean lasted about 40 years. In accordance with the treaty signed by the
ministers in Murmansk on September 15, 2010, the new boundary line will
divide the disputed area of 175.2 thousand square kilometers roughly in
halves. The agreement has been ratified by the parliaments of both
countries.
-0-str
maritime delimitation and cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic
Ocean offers great opportunities for the development of business relations
between the two countries in a wide range of industries, primarily in oil
and gas, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store told Itar-Tass in an
interview. On June 7 in Oslo he will exchange ratification instruments
with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and a month after that the
treaty will formally enter into force.
"The upcoming event is very pleasant for our countries, because as a
result of years-long negotiations the most complicated issue in bilateral
relations has been resolved," said the Norwegian minister. He said the
natural wealth of the region should unite neighbors, and not alienate them.
"The existence of clear boundaries is the only politically correct
approach. And it can expand current cooperation between the two
countries," said Store. "For example, we have already worked out a
mutually beneficial partnership arrangement in the fishing sector, and
both countries are now expecting more," he said.
The minister believes that "the countries have left behind old
prejudices."
"The situation has changed, and in the Arctic we see that we have so
many common interests," he said.
"After the solution of the delimitation problem we have no other
burning foreign policy issues," Store stated. Further work, he said,
should be focused on such tasks as simplifying of the process of crossing
the state border and reducing bureaucratic obstacles to cooperation. Two
issues that remain relevant for Norway, he said, are environmental
pollution in the north and the difficulties in obtaining Russian visas for
representatives of Norwegian NGOs.
Bilateral talks on the division of the Barents Sea and the Arctic
Ocean lasted about 40 years. In accordance with the treaty signed by the
ministers in Murmansk on September 15, 2010, the new boundary line will
divide the disputed area of 175.2 thousand square kilometers roughly in
halves. The agreement has been ratified by the parliaments of both
countries.
-0-str
