Murmansk is ready!
The city of Murmansk is well prepared to receive the high-ranking officials for today’s signing of the historical treaty between Norway and Russia.
All the streets are washed, the flowerbeds are well decorated and the flags on the official buildings are all there. Maybe most visible is that all the main cross-roads in the city centre are blocked off by traffic police officers.
The cortege cars are now arriving from the airport with the Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Then the new washed cars with the biggest Norwegian Governmental delegation ever to Russia, five ministers and three state secretaries.
The official signing of the agreement on border delineation in the Barents Sea will take place in the Yellow County Administration building on Prospekt Lenina downtown Murmansk.
When the Russian and Norwegian Foreign Ministers Jonas Gahr Støre and Sergey Lavrov put their signatures on the Treaty, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and President Dmitry Medvedev will attend the ceremony from the stage.
In addition to the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, the Norwegian Government will be present with its Minister of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs, Mrs. Lisbeth Berg-Hansen, Minister of Environment, Mr. Erik Solheim and Minister and Chief of Staff at the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr. Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen.
Read also: Five Norwegian Ministers to Murmansk
The official signing of the Treaty was supposed to happen at 4 pm, but is delayed due to the Russian presidental aircraft’s late departure from Sochi this morning. President Dmitri Medvedev celebrated his 45-years birthday with his family at the Black Sea resort yesterday.
BarentsObserver will follow the signing ceremony in Murmansk and come back with updates and photos during the day.
