Bellona leader to visit Murmansk regional parliament
This week Bellona President Frederic Hauge will be a guest of the Regional Parliament in Murmansk. Hauge is invited by the Speaker of the Parliament to talk about environmental challenges in the northern areas.
- This is the first time we’ve heard of a Russian parliament inviting an NGO on an official visit, said Kristin Jørgensen, head of Bellona’s Russian Department, according to the organization’s web site.
Yevgeny Nikora, speaker of Murmansk Regional Parliament, heard Frederic Hauge make a speech during the ninth “Conference of Arctic Parliamentarians” in Brussels in September - and shortly after, Hauge was invited on an official visit to Murmansk.
- Bellona sees this as a golden opportunity to put important issues on the agenda – the environment, nuclear safety, energy challenges and environmental rights. Here we have a unique opportunity to discuss these issues at a high political level, said Jørgensen.
In Murmansk Hauge will take part in a roundtable conference on nuclear safety and industrial activity in the Arctic.
Bellona believes Frederic Hauge’s visit is very important for the status of NGOs in general in Russia and for Bellona Murmansk’s role in the region in particular and hope the visit will give new opportunities to cooperate with authorities in a more constructive and appropriate way.
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