News&Events

12.11.07
IIIrd Annual International Conference "Cross-border cooperation: The Russian Federation, the European Union and Norway" took place in Kaliningrad on October 11-12, 2007

Existent relations between Russia and EU with emphasis on CBC development were highlights of the IIIrd International Conference "Cross-border cooperation: the Russian Federation, the European Union and Norway" held on 11th -12th of October 2007, in The World Ocean Museum in Kaliningrad. Among the speakers were both local and state leaders from Russian Federation, representatives of European Comission and specialists of different State Departments from Russia, Northern Europe and Baltic region. The conference was organized by the office of the Plenipotentiary Envoy of the President of the Russian Federation to the North-West Federal District, the Ministry of Regional Development of Russian Federation, the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Administration of Kaliningrad Region, the North-West Development and Investment Promotion Agency and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

The total number of the conference participants was over 200 and among them were representatives from 11 countries and 5 international organizations. Besides the traditional themes handling the Euroregion activities this meeting brought to discussion also the formation and development of the economical relations. This topic was reviewed through a special presentation, where the Kaliningrad region having a significant role in the partnership between Russia and EU, become a showcase for the economical achievements, problems and future perspectives. In the discussion the experiences of Poland, Lithuania, Germany and Russia were presented.

The opening words were addressed to the audience by the Aide to the President of Russian Federation Sergey Yastrzhembsky, by the Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers Halld?r ?sgr?msson, by the Deputy Plenipotentiary Envoy of the President of the Russian Federation to the North-West Federal District Evgeni Lukyanov and - on the behalf of the Governor and Administration of Kaliningrad Oblast - Vice Prime Minister Yuri Shamilov. The delegation of the European Comission was headed by the Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who took part in the general session on 12th of October.

In the frames of the BEN and BEN-EAST projects was oraganized the third Russian national Roundtable "Institutional and financial capacity of organizations working in cross-borber cooperation". In the meeting were discussed the development potential of the organizations operating in CBC field, as well as their financing possibilities for the project activities. The representatives of the European Comission, the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russian Federation, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, the Russian National Sub-committee of the Baltic Sea Region Interreg IIIB Program told about the financial vehicles their organizations can provide to the projects aiming for the development of the cross-border cooperation. The representatives of scientific-educational sector - St.Petersburg State University and North-Western Academy of Federal Service - highlighted the important role of educational programs in enhancing the quality of the cross-border cooperation both at local and regional level. They also gave the public a glance to the current situation of scientifical research in the field of cross-border cooperation. A special presentation with a focus on Kaliningrad region as an example of the development in cross-border cooperation was held by Minister of Territorial Development and Cooperation with Municipalities of the Kaliningrad Region Governement, M. Pluhin.

On October, 10 the second BEN-East coordination group meeting took place in the town of Svetlogorsk. During the meeting different questions regarding project's implementation were discussed, such as registration of the project in the Ministry for Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation, approval of Recommendations based on the results of the conference in Moscow on May, 24-25 2007 and some others.

Programme of the conference >>

List of participants >>

Mass Media about the conference >>