During the first days of the outburst of the war, signals from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign affairs opened for a continuation of the people-to-people cooperation in the Barents Region.
This policy has now been changed, and the Norwegian Government has made a common statement with Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and the European Union regarding Barents Euro-Arctic cooperation, stating that
“We have no other choice than to suspend activities involving Russia in the Barents Euro-Arctic cooperation. We remain convinced of the enduring value of Barents Euro-Arctic cooperation and reiterate our support for this institution and its work.” https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/statement_barents_cooperation/id2903486/
The practical consequence for us is that The Norwegian Barents Secretariat has suspended all projects and stopped processing new applications. The statement also involves all educational cooperation. Consequently, the fundings from the county of Troms and Finnmark have been suspended until a solution has been found.
