Head of Joint Norwegian Headquarters (NJ HQ) Yngve Odlo will meet this week with Lt. Gen. Stanislav Maslov, FSB’s border directorate, in Kirkenes, Norway.

The two corps generals will chair the first protocol meeting between the QGJN and the FSB Border Service since October 2019.

Press release says the Covid-19 pandemic has made it difficult to hold physical meetings between Russian Federal Security Services (FSB) border service delegations from the Western Arctic regions and the Joint Headquarters .

Norway, like NATO, has suspended bilateral military cooperation with Russia since 2014. Activities protected from this suspension include cooperation on coast guards and border control, areas in which annual protocol meetings are always held. place.

Russian-Norwegian border cooperation

Cooperation on the Russian-Norwegian border is based on the border demarcation agreement between Norway and Russia dated December 29, 1949. In other words, it is therefore a historically anchored cooperation characterized by a dialogue open and successful between border control forces and Norwegian and Russian border commissioners, according to the press release.

“The discussions and conversations during the visits were seen on the Norwegian side as constructive. We are talking about specific challenges linked to common challenges in border cooperation, search and rescue services and fisheries management. There is still agreement among delegations that the challenges in the Barents Sea, the Norwegian Sea and on the land border should be resolved through open channels of communication and the continuation of existing agreements between Norway and Russia. .

The Norwegian Armed Forces write that the currently extensive and strong cooperation between the Norwegian Coast Guard and the Maritime Section of the Russian Border Control Authority (Coast Guard) covers both fishing and its control, search and rescue, protection against oil spills, traffic monitoring, as well as mutual alarm and information exchange on elements that may constitute a threat to common interests (resources, environment, illegal activities).

Cooperation with the FSB border service has developed considerably since 1994 and until today. There are three annual meetings between the Joint Headquarters and the Border Directorate in Murmansk. In addition, the Coast Guard conducts exchanges between the Coast Guard Operations Center in Sortland, Norway, and the FSB Situation Center in Murmansk, Russia, according to the Norwegian Armed Forces.