Lavrov and Støre appointed Honorary Doctors
Russia’s and Norway’s foreign ministers Sergey Lavrov and Jonas Gahr Støre are appointed Honorary Doctors of the University of Tromsø.
The world’s northernmost university is preparing to receive high-ranking visitors this autumn, as both ministers have accepted the appointment as Doctor Honoris Causa.
- Lavrov and Støre is a symbol of peaceful cooperation and I am very glad the university board has decided to make them honorary doctors, says Rector of University of Tromsø Jarle Aarbakke to iTromsø.
In September 2010 Jonas Gahr Støre and Sergey Lavrov signed the treaty on maritime delimitation and cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean in Murmansk, thus ending nearly 40 years of negotiations.
According to Aarbakke, Støre has actively used expertise from the University of Tromsø (UiT) when developing Norway’s strategies for the High North. The minister visited Tromsø only two days after the signing of the delimitation agreement.
Sergey Levrov is the second Russian to be appointed Honorary Doctor at UiT. The first was Former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, in 1998. Other famous honorary doctors at UiT are Dalai Lama, Salman Rushdie, Rigoberta Menchu Tum and Desmond Mpiko Tutu, according to the univeristy’s web site.
