25 years of cooperation
A large delegation from the political and administrative leadership of Finnmark County is visiting Murmansk Oblast to celebrate the first 25 years of official cooperation.
Although the first formal agreement on cooperation was signed in 1988, the northernmost county of Norway has cooperated with its Russian neighbor since the early 1960’ies. Already then athletes visited each other across the border, and cultural exchange was common. The first official visit from Finnmark to Murmansk was conducted in 1987, when a friendship agreement was signed.
Since the signing of the Kirkenes Declaration in 1993, the cooperation has developed to cover almost every side of society, from healthcare and education to business and emergency response.
“The cooperation in the Barents Region is deeply rooted on both sides of the border and has received broad national and international acknowledgement”, Head of Finnmark County Council Runar Sjåstad says to BarentsObserver. “We are also happy to see that the cooperation gets more and more concrete”.
During the events in Murmansk today, the two sides signed a new agreement on cultural and sports cooperation in the coming years.