On New Year's Eve I will be able to look back on a hectic year as President of the Nordic Council. It has involved many trips to meetings in the entire Nordic Region, but also to our neighbouring countries.
This year I have, therefore, had the chance to visit St. Petersburg, Syktyvkar, Khanty-Mansiysk and Vologda in Russia.

If some of you cannot immediately place these towns on the map, I will admit that, for example, Khanty-Mansiysk was also unknown to me before my visit in June. The town lies on the other side of the Ural Mountains in Siberia near the River Ob.

Siberia is perceived as cold and poor but there was a heat wave in Khanty-Mansiysk and it was more prosperous than many other towns because of the oil and gas resources in the area.

The double name is derived from the two Finno-Ugric peoples who lived in the region before the Russians made their way eastwards several hundred years ago. There are also native Finno-Ugric people in the town of Syktyvkar in the Komi Republic on this side of the Ural Mountains.

It is certainly educational to see new parts of the world but what are the advantages of Nordic contact with Russia? I consider it to be great, even though on some occasions I have participated in some rather disorganised meetings.

Just think about what the situation was like only 18 years ago. Northern Europe was still influenced by the Cold War. Every year that passes and every contact that we make across the border pushes that time even further behind us.

Even today, there are Russian politicians who have been strongly influenced by growing up during a time of great distrust in our part of the world, and there are also people in the west who still believe that we are dealing with a hostile Soviet Union.

There is now a new generation in USA represented by Obama, and in Russia too a new generation of politicians is emerging that is eager to make new contacts with its neighbours - also here in the Nordic Region.

Let's not be naive. Russia has a long way to go before achieving democracy, and before freedom of the press and NGOs are a matter of course. However, one has to remember that although Russia is an old country, the new Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union is just at the end of its teens.

Most recently, at the beginning of December, I took part in a meeting in Vologda for politicians from the regional parliament in Northwest Russia who gathered in PANWR, the Parliamentary Association of Northwest Russia.

During this year good contacts have been built up between the Nordic Council and the parliamentarians from Northwest Russia. Generally speaking it is all about more contact, particularly in trade and tourism, between the Nordic countries and Russia.

However, there is room for improvement. Nordic and Russian politicians sometimes have different views, but often we are faced with more or less the same challenges. This is particularly true in the current situation with the financial crisis.

The more Nordic and Russian politicians get to know each other, the more we understand that there is much to be gained from these relations.

The Nordic Council is also in contact with the State Duma and the Federation Council in Moscow. They extended an invitation to a round table discussion in Khanty-Mansiysk on the other side of the Urals.

Next year the Nordic Council will host a similar seminar in Bergen. The theme will be energy and the environment. Although Russia has plenty of gas and oil, they have much to learn about improving energy efficiency.

Politically speaking, recent signals from Russia have been contradictory. There have been critical reactions following the recent regional elections, when, for example, representatives of only two parties were elected in Moscow.

At the same time, President Medvedev has made several proposals on innovation in Russian society and forging greater openness towards the outside world. He would like to relax visa regulations to make it easier to enter the country.

Time will tell whether there will be a period of political change following the financial crisis which has hit Russia very hard because of falling commodity prices. Under all circumstances, it is an important time for Nordic politicians to expand their contacts with Russian politicians.