Norwegian-Russian border deal to be signed in Murmansk
The Norwegian-Russian agreement on border delineation in the Barents Sea will officially be signed in Murmansk next week. Both Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg will attend the document signing ceremony.
The breakthrough deal was announced on 27 April this year during President Medvedev’s visit to Oslo. The agreement, which came as a big surprise to observers, will divide a 175000 square kilometer big area in the Barents Sea.
In an interview with NRK, Norwegian PM Jens Stoltenberg confirms that all details regarding the borderline now have been settled and that the agreement is ready for signing.
It will be the two countries’ foreign ministers, Jonas Gahr Støre and Sergei Lavrov, who will sign the documents, a press release from the Norwegian government informs. The signing ceremony will take place in Murmansk on 15 September.
Both Prime Minister Stoltenberg and Foreign Minister Støre will make a stop in Norwegian border town of Kirkenes on their way to Murmansk
After the signing of the documents, it will be up to the two countries’ legislative assemblies to complete the deal with the necessary ratification.
Read also: Medvedev’s historical visit to Oslo
“The lack of a border has been a limitation. Now the drawing of a border opens opportunities, Foreign Minister Støre highlighted in a speech held at the University of Troms just two days after Medvedev’s visit. The Minister stressed the responsibility to develop the Barents Sea as “a sea of cooperation”, and also the Barents Region as a “region of cooperation”.
-We want to encourage the development of the international cooperation in the North, both practically, strategically and analytically. We want to build strong and stable neighborhoods and develop committing joint solutions where needed. And we want to support the forces in the North, which are ready to seize these opportunities, Støre told the audience of regional leaders, scholars and students.
The agreement involves a maritime delimitation line that divides the overall disputed area of about 175 000 square kilometres in two parts of approximately the same size. In addition to a maritime delimitation line, the two sides will adopt treaties on fisheries and management of hydrocarbon resources in the area. Included in the deal are detailed rules and procedures ensuring efficient and responsible management of hydrocarbon resources in cases where any single oil or gas deposits should extend across the delimitation line.
