1.9 Developments in Russia

It has been more difficult to get applications from regions far from the border than from the neighbouring Finnmark and Murmansk regions. From the Norwegian side approximately 60 percent of the applications come from Finnmark, 30 percent from Troms and only ten percent from Nordland.

Compared to the situation in 1993 when the Barents co-operation was initiated, Russia has changed dramatically in important fields. The economy is in a much better state, companies are earning money. The public institutions have developed their administrative capacity. In other fields Russia has developed slower towards a European standard. The political and administrative culture of Russia is still imbued with top-down, vertical and, in some respects, authoritarian ways of thinking. Russia’s foreign policy is more self-assertive than it was in 1993. Combined with the stronger emphasis on reasonable self-interest in Norway’s foreign policy, the somewhat “idyllic” attempts at creating a common identity and mutual benefits across the borders in the North might have been expected to be at peril. This, however, does not seem to be the case. As late as in November 2007, at the Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe’s meeting in Madrid Russia’s foreign minister brought up the cooperation within the BEAR as an example of how Russia wants to co-operate with neighbouring countries.

The improvements in the economic and social situation in Russia make the programme theory of the grant scheme more likely to be even more relevant than before since partners from both sides of the border now can meet and co-operate on more equal terms. Russian partners already raise more funds for common activities than they used to do However, still Russian contributions may be difficult to get, like in the case of a youth initiative, where all involved regions were to contribute 3,000 € each. The Russian side was reluctant to put in their share on the grounds that it was formally difficult to spend money on the other side of the border. The Barents Secretariat is hesitant to cover the costs of activities carried out by Russians who are able to pay, such as private companies, but still see the need to cover the costs of musicians