EUBORDERREGIONS FP7 RESEARCH PROJECT CASE STUDY #1 NORWAY - RUSSIA Case Study Report Elaborated by The Barents Institute Team UIT The Arctic University of Norway 1 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 4 1.1 The border, the border region and the border traffic zone ............................................................. 4 1.2 Data material and network analysis ................................................................................................. 5 1.3 Historical background ....................................................................................................................... 8 1.4 The impact of the past on current cross-border relations ............................................................. 10 1.5 Minorities and their impact on current cross-border relations ..................................................... 11 2. Socio-economic characteristics ................................................................................................... 13 2.1 Finnmark County ............................................................................................................................. 13 2.2 Murmansk Region ........................................................................................................................... 14 2.3 Regional indicators compared to national indicators ..................................................................... 16 2.4 Differences between the Norwegian and Russian parts of the border region ............................... 18 2.5 Socio-economic characteristics affecting cross-border cooperation ............................................. 19 3. Cross-border transport and infrastructure ................................................................................... 21 3.1 The border crossing point of Storskog-Borisoglebsky .................................................................... 21 3.2 Border crossings through Storskog-Borisoglebsky ......................................................................... 23 3.3 Treatment of travellers crossing the border at Storskog-Borisoglebsky ........................................ 25 3.4 Air, sea and rail traffic ..................................................................................................................... 25 3.5 Infrastructure .................................................................................................................................. 26 4. The visa regime and the border traffic permit ............................................................................. 27 4.1 The visa regime ............................................................................................................................... 27 4.2 The border traffic permit ................................................................................................................ 28 5. Bilateral and regional cooperation .............................................................................................. 32 5.1 Economy ......................................................................................................................................... 32 5.2 Culture and art ................................................................................................................................ 33 5.3 Environment ................................................................................................................................... 33 5.4 Safety and security.......................................................................................................................... 34 5.5 International context for cooperation ............................................................................................ 35 5.6 Cooperation on the regional level .................................................................................................. 36 6. Municipal cooperation: The case of Sør-Varanger and Pechenga ................................................. 37 6.1 Twin towns ...................................................................................................................................... 37 6.2 The cooperation between the municipal administrations ............................................................. 38 6.3 Health and care ............................................................................................................................... 39 6.4 Education ........................................................................................................................................ 40 6.5 Sport................................................................................................................................................ 42 6.6 Libraries .......................................................................................................................................... 43 6.7 Media .............................................................................................................................................. 44 6.8 Business and labour ........................................................................................................................ 44 6.9 Obstacles for municipal cross-border cooperation ........................................................................ 45 7. Cross-border cooperation between organizations and institutions............................................... 47 7.1 Educational cross-border cooperation ........................................................................................... 47 7.2 Cultural cross-border cooperation ................................................................................................ 47 7.3 Cross-border cooperation between non-governmental organizations ......................................... 48 7.4 Motivating factors .......................................................................................................................... 48 7.5 Obstacles ....................................................................................................................................... 49 2 8. Economic relations ..................................................................................................................... 51 8.1 Economic relations between Norway and Russia ........................................................................... 51 8.2 Economic relations in the border region ........................................................................................ 52 8.3 Informal and illegal trade in the border region .............................................................................. 53 8.4 The labour market .......................................................................................................................... 53 8.5 Tourism ........................................................................................................................................... 54 8.6 Fisheries and hydroenergy – two success stories ........................................................................... 56 8.7 Barriers for economic cross-border cooperation ........................................................................... 57 8.8 The future for economic cross-border cooperation ....................................................................... 58 9. Perceptions of the border, the border location and regional development ................................... 60 10. The role of the European Union in the borderland ....................................................................... 62 11. Policy options ............................................................................................................................. 64 12. References ................................................................................................................................. 66 3 1. Introduction This case study report forms part of the research project European Regions, EU External Borders and the Immediate Neighbours. Analysing Regional Development Options through Policies and Practices of Cross-Border Co-operation (EUBORDERREGIONS). The main objective of the project is to identify challenges to economic, social, and territorial cohesion as well as regional development potentials in different borderlands at the EU’s external frontiers.1 The report examines cross-border cooperation (hereinafter referred to as CBC) in the Russian- Norwegian borderland in the far north of Europe. Although the Russian-Norwegian border is formally not an EU border, it shares in many ways the characteristics of the eastern external EU border further south. Although not a member of the union, Norway is to a large extent integrated in the EU community through its membership in the European Economic Area. Importantly, Norway has been a member of the Schengen since 2001. 1.1 The border, the border region and the border traffic zone The Russian- Norwegian border was established in 1826. The border is 196 kilometres long. The biggest part of it (153 kilometres) follows rivers and lakes. The border can only be crossed at one point, the Storskog-Borisoglebsky border-crossing. Visa, or border traffic permit for border residents, is required for travellers crossing the border from either side. The Russian-Norwegian border region is in our research defined as Finnmark County (Norwegian: Finnmark fylke) (48.637 km2/