Finland Withdraws From the Barents Euro-Arctic Council
The Barents Euro-Arctic Council has become redundant, believes Finland's Minister of Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen.
Finland will withdraw from the Barents Euro-Arctic Council after 2025 and rather invest in other formats for cooperation in the North. The country now has an idea about designing a joint strategic agenda for the northern regions of Finland, Norway and Sweden.
Finland will leave the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) after 2025, but will continue cooperation in the northern regions through other channels, the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on Thursday.
The cross-border cooperation in the Barents region, established in 1993, has been affected by changes in the European security order and the international environment, the ministry maintains.
“Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Barents cooperation was an effective channel for Finland to interact with others in the northern regions. However, this form of cooperation no longer meets today's needs, and it creates overlapping structures. Finland's goal is a stable and prosperous Nordic region, and we will continue to invest in it through various forms of cooperation,” says Minister of Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen.
The development
After the invasion, activities involving Russia in the Barents Euro-Arctic cooperation were suspended by Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and the EU – and Russia withdrew from BEAC in autumn 2023.
Following the end of Finlands ordinary chairship period 2021-2023, Finland, Norway and Sweden have acted as an interim trio chairship.
In March, Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide said that the BEAC could serve as a forum for strengthened Norwegian-Finnish-Swedish regional efforts in the north, but now that will not be the case.
As a consequence of the withdrawal from the BEAC, Finland will also withdraw from the agreement on the establishment of the International Barents Secretariat. On the basis of a motion proposed by the government, the President Alexander Stubb will decide on the issue on Friday.
Idea of joint strategic agenda
Finland's ambition going forward is to strengthen northern cooperation with Norway and Sweden within other frameworks.
“For Finland, maintaining close cooperation in the northern regions is even more important than before. The cooperation will continue with both Sweden and Norway and in international fora, such as the Nordic Council of Ministers,” writes the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The ministry specifically refers to the government's ongoing work with a program to strengthen activity and security in northern Finland – where one of the ideas is to draw up a joint strategic agenda for the northern regions in Finland, Norway and Sweden.
The draft program is now being circulated for comments internally in Finland.
Facts about the Barents cooperation
• The Barents cooperation has constituted a formalized collaboration primarily between Russia, Norway, Finland, and Sweden – designed to promote stability and sustainable development in the Barents region. Russia withdrew from the cooperation in September 2023.
• The cooperation was established through the Kirkenes Declaration in 1993, with interactions at both ministerial and regional level.
• The Barents Euro-Arctic Council is the format for intergovernmental cooperation – which also includes Denmark, Iceland, and the EU as members. Nine countries have observer status. The International Barents Secretariat, established in Kirkenes in 2008, provides administrative assistance.
• The Barents Regional Council gathers regional units in the 'core countries' (which now are three), and representatives of the region’s indigenous peoples.
• There are several working groups under the council bodies, i.a. for health and social issues, environment, education and research, culture, indigenous affairs, and business.
• The Norwegian Barents Secretariat in Kirkenes, established in 1993, previously had as its main job to support Norwegian-Russian collaborations in the region through i.a. funding. In June 2023, the secretariat was tasked with focusing mainly on regional cross-border cooperation with Sweden and Finland, but it can still support people-to-people cooperation with Russian civil society.
