1. THE BARENTS REGION IN THE
EUROPEAN RETROSPECTIVE AND
PERSPECTIVE
Goldin, Vladislav, professor of the
Northern (Arctic) Federal University
(Arkhangelsk, Russia), honorary
scientist of the Russian Federation

2. The Barents Region as a phenomenon of the international
relations and development in the new, post-Cold War, unified
Europe, Europe of regions.
The Barents process is an example of twenty years successful
cooperation across the borders between East and West in the
European North and its experience is useful not only for the
Barents Region but for the whole Europe.
The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (in 2008): “The
further north, the closer relations between East-West”.

3. More than hundred books (monographs and
collections of articles) and thousands of articles on
the Barents Region cooperation have been published
and some of them issued in the last years:
Barents Review 2010. Talking Barents. People,
Borders and regional cooperation. Kirkenes, 2010;
Fokin Iu.E., Smirnov A.I. Kirkenesskaia Deklaratsiia o
sotrudnichestve v Barentsevom Evro/Arkticheskom
regione: vzgliad iz Rossii 20 let spustia. Moscow,
2012; Barents Review 2012. Barents Borders.
Delimitation and internationalization. Kirkenes, 2012:
Landsem L.E.I. Barentsregionens tilblivelse – en
studie av regionale initiative. Stamsund, 2013, etc.

4. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: THE BARENTS REGION IN THE
EUROPEAN RETROSPECTIVE
The initiative of the Barents Region was an idea, mechanism and
instrument to overcome a split of the North-European space, to eliminate
there the heritage of the Cold War and to establish the atmosphere of trust
between the new Russia and its neighbors, secure cooperation and
sustainable development. The Barents initiative was a project in the new
strategy of security and new security agenda, a part and example of the
transformation process from “hard” security to “soft” security.

5. The Barents process initiative was born in Norway and
elaborated in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs headed
by T. Stoltenberg.
In the public lecture in November 2011 at the
inauguration as an honorary doctor of the
Northern (Arctic) Federal University (NArFU) he
spoke: “When in 1992 I advanced a proposal of
the Barents cooperation and the Barents
Region the main goal was a desire to develop
trans-regional cooperation here, in the North.
When I was a Minister of Defense during the
Cold War, it was a period of mistrust and
absence of trans-regional ties. Since the period
of the Cold War, this border was one of the
most closed East-European borders. Taking
the post of Minister of the Foreign Affairs in
1992 I saw a chance to make it a border of
cooperation, to transfer a barrier into a bridge
and to go from confrontation to collaboration”.
The Barents Region today is an impressive example how at the place of one
of the most militarized regions was possible to create a region of the fruitful
peaceful cooperation in different fields.

6. The Barents process was a part and consequence of rapid
development of globalization and regionalization and new Big
Europe formation. The constructing of the Barents Region was a
response for the challenges and risks of peripherization and
marginalization of this northernmost area of Europe.
T. Stoltenberg thought about the
future Barents Region as a part of
the new Europe and recollected
through years: “My dream was not
only to encourage cooperation
within the Barents Region.
I saw the establishment of a Barents
Region in a wider context.
It was linked to the establishment of a Baltic cooperation – and also
to the cooperation that eventually emerged at the Balkans. If you
look at the map – the Barents, the Baltic, and the Balkans – these
are border areas in Europe that for generations have been potential
sources for conflicts, and in some cases it has lead to conflicts,
violence and war. If we succeed with these cooperation projects …
then we have turned these regions that were formerly characterized
by high tension, to regions that are characterized by cooperation
and stability”.

7. J. Holst, who succeeded Stoltenberg as
Foreign Minister of Norway in April
1993, stated that the Kirkenes
Declaration had laid the foundations for
“a meeting place”, for “regional
cooperation with a European
perspective”. In April 1993 at the first
scientific conference (after the creation
of the Barents Region) of the Russian
and Norwegian politicians and
researchers (in Arkhangelsk, devoted
to the cooperation in education and
science) Holst pointed out the specific
place and significance of the North in
the geo-cultural space of Europe, as a
keeper of the old cultural values, as a
border between religions and cultures.
The EU commission became the
member of the Barents Euro-Arctic
Council and thus the EU started to take
its steps to the North several years
before the Northern Dimension initiative
and policy appeared.

8. The conceptualization of the Barents
Region: was it an “artificial”, “engineered”
region or “natural”, historical one? Its
primary idea appeared as a functional
geopolitical entity but soon transformed
taking into consideration the historical
background.
T. Stoltenberg spoke in the same speech
in Arkhangelsk, NArFU, in November
2011: “The Pomors and the times of
Pomors were an important source of
inspiration for us. In other words, a history
was an example for us and we desired to
learn on the examples of history. We
desired to develop the old historical ties
between the peoples of North-West Russia
with the peoples of the northern regions of
Finland, Norway and Sweden”.
Through the years, many politicians and
researchers admit that the modern Barents
Region bases upon the foundation of longterm (for centuries and even thousands of
years) peaceful relations and economic
ties between the people lived on these
territories.

9. Achievements, problems and prospects of the
Barents cooperation
Releasing of the military and military-political tension
and strengthening of the political stability is an
obvious result of the Barents process, despite
officially the Barents Region has not covered military
policy affairs. The most militarized region of Europe
with strategic military interests and dangers in the
past it is a region without conflicts and dangerous
military-political counterbalance, with a developing
system of trust, multilateral military cooperation and
joint exercises nowadays.
Disappearance of the “image of enemy” and
formation the atmosphere of trust and cooperation in
different spheres is the main achievement of the
Barents process.

10. Impressive changes have been taken
place in education, science and research
in the Barents Region.
From the first contacts, establishing ties
and formation the joint programs and
networks in education and science the
member-countries and regions came to
formation of the scientific-educational
space of the Barents Region, which
proved to be one of the most advanced
and fruitful in the European higher
educational space and European research
area.
Prominent results of cooperation in the
cultural life, intensive cultural interaction
can be served as a basis for the further
movement to the cultural identity in the
Barents Region.

11. During the 1990s a visit to other country or region of
the BEAR was an event (especially for the Russian
citizens), later on, it became a usual practice and
step by step the people became to feel themselves
as the citizens of the Barents Region. Lightening of
the visa regime and even possibility for the people
living near the border to visit territory across the
border without the visa, rapidly growing number of
border crossings through Norwegian-Russian and
Finnish-Russian stations is very important for the
strengthening cooperation and mutual trust.
People-to-people cooperation and interaction (in
different forms and ages) is a prominent
achievement, important phenomenon and a core of
the Barents process.

12. Positive experience of putting on the agenda
and solving the indigenous people problems,
securing their survival is a unique one for the
whole Europe and other European border
regions.
Human dimension of the BEAR is a reality of
contemporary situation.

13. During the process of planning of the Barents process in the
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the beginning of the
1990s there were the ideas that the cooperation possibly
could involve the Barents Sea and create the Barents Sea
Region. However, at that time there were many obstacles (old
disputed zone in the Barents Sea, high militarization, etc.),
which made it impossible to include the Barents Sea in
cooperation.
After the Russian-Norwegian Treaty (2010) on Maritime
Delimitation and Cooperation in the Barents Sea and the
Arctic Ocean new opportunities for cooperation appeared –
not only through land border, but also through sea border,
exploration of the joint oil and gas deposits.
The Norwegian-Russian collaboration in exploration of the
offshore hydrocarbon resources in the Barents Sea as well as
the growing importance of all kinds of marine resources and
environment here would stimulate the cooperation between
the countries and the economic development in the Barents
Region. It’s important also for the whole Europe and
especially for providing its oil and gas demands and energy
security.

14. The Barents Region has huge industrial potential and good
prospects of its development in different spheres, but it must
not hamper the vulnerable environment. A protection of the
environment from the start has been and still is one of the
priorities of the Barents Region development. Solving of the
vital environmental problems, big investments in this sphere,
great changes in the ecological consciousness, formation of
the environmental dimension of the Region – one more
important achievement of the Barents cooperation. But new
challenges and risks will be connected with the future “great
exploration” of the North, extraction of the offshore
hydrocarbon resources in the Barents Sea.
The environmental organizations must take part in discussions
and decision-making on key industrial developments. In any
case, the local population of the Barents Region and Russian
North, in particular, must not suffer from the appearance of
international oil and gas corporations here but benefit from
industrial development in the region with real and
considerable investments made in regional and local socialeconomic and innovative development.

15. In the October (1987) Gorbachev’s speech in Murmansk the
idea about transforming the Northern Sea Route into the
international transport artery was proclaimed. However, until
nowadays, this project is still at the start. The extensive
exploitation of the Northern Sea Route as alternative to the
southern routes and real transforming it into the international
transport artery would stimulate the Barents and Arctic
cooperation and would be profitable for the most part of
Europe.

16. International tourism development in the
BEAR (with coordination of the most
interesting routes, improvement of the
infrastructure, etc.) can become a rapidly
developing joint branch of the new economy of
the region and can be positive in many
relations for Europe.

17. The prospects of the Barents Region would depend greatly on
Russia, as the most part of the BEAR territory and population is the
Russian one, and the most part of resources (mineral first of all)
concentrated on the Russian territory. What will be the future of
Russia and results of the proclaimed modernization of the country
and the Russian North in particular, as well as the realization of the
Arctic strategy? What will be the future of the Russian European
North in connection with the Big oil and gas exploitation? Will it be a
raw appendix of Russia (Russian Centre) and the Barents Region
as usual? Will it be a survival or real development of the Russian
part of the BEAR? Can its innovative development, knowledge
society and economy based on knowledge (become a reality in
future? In particular, the Northern (Arctic) Federal University was
created for it. What will be the situation with the level and quality of
life of the citizens of the Russian North? - All these questions and
answers on them will predetermine not only the future of the
Russian European North but also the perspectives of the Barents
Region as a whole.
Crucial gap in the economic and social levels of development,
quality of life between the western and the eastern (Russian) parts
of the Barents Region has been and still is a serious barrier for the
fruitful collaboration here as well as between Russia and Europe.

18. Intensive trans-border and cross-border cooperation
in different forms in the Barents Region is not only a
practice, but also a sphere of science, complex and
integrative research – boderology.
The Barents Institute was
created in Kirkenes in 2006 for
the realization of the boderology
projects and studies. Is it
possible to make the Barents
Institute more effective and
transform into intellectual and
analytical centre of the BEAR
process development,
analyzing and accumulating its
experience, comparing the
results of its development with
the other international border
regions of Europe (and world)?

19. Functioning of the 2-levels construction of the Barents Region
governance (Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) and Barents
Regional Council (BRC) and some other elements of its
infrastructure – the Norwegian Barents Secretariat and some
other member-countries Barents secretariats; the Barents
Regional Committee; the International Barents Secretariat; the
Barents Parliamentary Conference; the Barents Indigenous
Peoples Congress; the Information Barents centers; working
groups of BEAC and BRC; the Barents programs, etc. and
their experience is of great importance for the other European
border regions.
Some of these institutions (i.e., the International Barents
Secretariat) can work more effectively and play more active
role in the further internationalization of the Barents process,
in particular, as a part of European and Arctic processes.
Well-developed and effective structures of the Barents
Region will promote to the development of the Barents
process itself and its growing role in the cross-border
cooperation in a Wider Europe.

20. Thank you for the
attention!