Foreign Ministers of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council to assemble in Rovaniemi

Press release 224/2007
1 November 2007

Finland’s chairmanship of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) will culminate with the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting to be held in Rovaniemi on 15 November.The meeting will be chaired by Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva; participants are expected from Russia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland the European Commission.

Established in 1993, the aim of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council is to promote stability and sustainable development in the Barents region. The regions included in Barents cooperation are Lapland, Oulu Region and Kainuu Region in Finland; Västerbotten and Norrbotten provinces in Sweden; Finnmark, Troms and Nordland in Norway; and Karelia, Komi, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Nenets in Russia.

The meeting at Rovaniemi will address cooperation in the Barents region, and the agreement establishing an international Barents Secretariat at Kirkkoniemi, Norway will be signed.

Additional information: Counsellor Anneli Puura-Märkälä, tel. +358 9 1605 5606, and First Secretary Jukka Nikulainen, tel. +358 9 1605 5772, Unit for the Northern Dimension; and Mikko Hautala, First Secretary to the Foreign Minister, tel. +358 9 1605 5332, and Juha Kirstilä, Press Attaché to the Foreign Minister, tel. +358 9 1605 5012