02.09.2009
The Norwegian Coast Guard vessel Barentshav has arrived in Murmansk with a delegation of higher Norwegian coast guard and border guard officials.
In Murmansk the Norwegians will meet their Russian colleagues to discuss issues like the situation on the Norwegian-Russian border, control with biological resources in the Barents Sea and further development of the cooperation between Norwegian and Russian border guard and coast guard services, web site
B-port.com reports.
The Norwegian delegation will be informed about organizational changes in the Russian Federal Security's (
FSB) Border Service and shown new equipment the border guards in Murmansk Oblast have applied lately, like the new coast guard vessel
Sprut.
The Norwegian delegation in Murmansk is led by head of the Regional Command in Northern Norway Rear Admiral Trond Grytting and includes Head of Coast Guard Squadron North, Commander Steve Olsen and Head of Sør-Varanger Garrison and Deputy Border Commissioner Jørn Erik Berntsen.
Their hosts are amongst others Head of
FSB's Border Service in Murmansk Oblast Major General Vyacheslav Biryukov and
FSB's official representative in Norway Colonel Aleksandr Likhtorovich.
Meetings between Norwegian and Russian border guard officials are being held on a regular basis. Norwegian-Russian military cooperation in the north has mostly remained unaffected by disagreements in the relationship between NATO and Russia on a higher level. When Grytting and Biryukov met in Kirkenes in March 2009, they both emphasized the close military cooperation between Norway and Russia in the north, and Biryukov said to BarentsObserver that:
− There are no secrets when we meet and we have an open and trustful dialogue. Earlier I had to write a letter every time I wanted to meet with my Norwegian colleague. Today, if there is anything I would like to discuss, I can just call Rear Admiral Grytting without further notice.
Source:
, photo: Rear Admiral Grytting and Major General Biryukov in Kirkenes (
BarentsObserver)
