Per Sandberg first Minister to visit Russia after Crimea annexation
Norway’s Minister of Fisheries travels to St. Petersburg for the North Atlantic Fisheries Ministers’ Conference.
Head of Communication in the Ministry, Ingrid Dånes says to the Barents Observer, that Per Sandberg will be the first Norwegian Minister to visit Russia after Norway imposed sanctions on Russia after Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
“The meeting will discuss scientific researches as a tool to ensure sustainable fisheries and environmental sustainability of marine ecosystems,” Ingrid Dånes says.
She tells that the final program for Minister Sandberg’s political conversations is not yet clear.
In addition to Per Sandberg, Ministers of Fisheries from Russia, Canada, Island, Faroe Islands, and EU’s Commissioner on Fisheries will join the meeting.
Dates are set for June 8th to 10th.
In the Barents Sea, Norway and Russia have for decades managed to regulate the fisheries in a good, sustainable way, maintaining robust stocks of cod and other spices. The fisheries cooperation between the two nations is considered one of the best implemented joint quota regulations in the world. Even during the Cold War, Norwegian and Russian scientists met annually and agreed on quotas and marine research in northern waters.
