Russia withdraws from Euro-Arctic rescue cooperation
The Foreign Ministry in Moscow announced on November 26 that it formally had terminated the agreement with Norway, Finland and Sweden on joint repose to emergency situations in the north.
The agreement from 2008 on Cooperation within the Field of Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response was the last part of the Barents cooperation that officially included Russia.
An official statement on the withdrawal is posted on the Foreign Ministry's portal.
The Barents cooperation was a multilateral set of regional and state partnership that was established following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Not much of the cooperation lasted after full-scale brutal war against Ukraine in 2022 as the Nordic countries, like the rest of Europe, turned their back against the Russian regime. In April this year, Moscow said enough was enough and formally closed its participation in the Barents cooperation.
During the years, the participating countries have arranged nine joint rescue exercises, rotating between Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway semiannually. The rescue cooperation has helped the participants understand the specially climatical and geographical challenges in the northernmost regions.
It has as well contributed to cross-border contacts in case accidents happens and international assistance is needed.
Norway and Russia still maintain a special bilateral agreement on search- and rescue in the Barents Sea, although no joint exercises have taken place after 2022.
