A joint Norwegian-Russian crime plan
Head of police in the Norwegian border town of Kirkenes wants Norwegian and Russian police authorities to jointly elaborate a plan on cross-border crime prevention and crime investigation.
-A cooperation agreement on the issue is to be signed before summer, police boss Håkon Skulstad says to newspaper Sør-Varanger Avis. He confirms that a constructive meeting between Norwegian and Russian police representatives was held last week in Kirkenes.
-The Russian representatives expressed a clear interest in such a plan, Mr. Skulstad, leader of the Norwegian East Finnmark Police District says. Russian police from before has a similar cooperation plan with Finnish authorities.
Cross-border traffic across the Norwegian-Russian border could pick pace if a planned cooperation zone between the two country’s border areas is implemented. The cooperation zone would include facilitated cross-border travel conditions for the people living in the zone.
As BarentsObserver reported, Mr. Skulstad recently expressed concern that a more open border would trigger more cross-border crime. For that statement he was fiercly criticised both by local authorities and the Norwegian Barents Secretariat, which work for more cooperation across the 196 km long border.
