At the end of May nine politicians from the Nordic Council visited Novgorod, where there has been Nordic-Russian connections ever since Viking times. The group met the Regional Governor Sergei Mitin and the Chair of the Regional Parliament, Elena Pisareva. There was then a roundtable discussion between Nordic and Russian politicians on cultural co-operation.
The Nordic group - from the visit to the Vitoslavlitsy Open Air Museum (photo: Novgorod Regional Duma)
Novgorod is counting on attracting more tourists to visit the city with a number of historic monuments, many of which are on UNESCO'S World Heritage List. At the roundtable discussion, Simo Rundgren, Chair of the Finnish Delegation to the Nordic Council stressed the Northern Dimension Partnership for Culture. Hans-Frode Asmyhr, Norwegian member of the Nordic Council Culture Committee explained how the Nordic Council draws attention to great artists through its prizes for literature, music and film. Åsa Torstensson from Sweden – former minister for infrastructure – stressed in discussions with the Russian politicians, that to exploit the potential for tourism it is important to concentrate on good infrastructure, including easy border crossings. Other delegates were Annette Lind, Denmark, Marianne Berg, Sweden and Torfinn Opheim, Tone Merete Sønsterud, Vigdis Giltun and Per Olaf Lundteigen from Norway.
While at central level in Moscow there are scary forces that, e.g., quite absurdly describe NGOs with foreign contacts as "foreign agents", at the regional level there is great interest in contacts with the Nordic Region. In the case of Novgorod this goes back to 862 when the Viking prince Rurik was invited to the area. The Nordic group visited his supposed settlement just where the Volkhov River runs from the great Lake Ilmen. Archaeologists have made discoveries that indicate that was the site of the original city. Shortly after that the new town of Novgorod was established a little bit further up the river. Rurik's descendants governed in Russia until 1598 as the first dynasty.
At parliamentary level this spring there have been successful joint Nordic-Russian events such as a roundtable in Syktyvkar, a youth forum in Petrozavodsk and a similar study programme for Russian parliamentarians in Norway. In 2014, a roundtable is planned in Stockholm, a youth forum in Finland and study programmes in Vologda and Denmark respectively.
Torkil Sørensen
Phone
+45 24 69 94 57
Email
ts@norden.org