10.05.2001 - ITAR-TASS Informs:

PETROZAVODSK, May 10 /The ITAR-TASS corr. Vladimir Zlobin, Vadim Lagutin/. President Putin will visit Finland in September. Igor Ivanov, the Ministry of foreign affairs RF has announced.

The Head of the Ministry of foreign affairs of Russia made a stop in Petrozavodsk on the way to Finland. He pointed out that he "is going to discuss a lot of the issues in the light of the coming visit of the President to Finland." He informed that the Head of the Government of Russia was planning to visit Finland, too.

Making a talk at the meeting with the leadership of the Republic of Karelia, Igor Ivanov has called Russian regions, and especially those of North-West, for cooperation with the Arctic Council, the Council of the Baltic countries, the Barents/Euroarctic Region Council. The Minister told the audience that Russia was going to put forward the initiative of conducting the summit of the Council of the Baltic countries on the Russian territory in the summer of 2002.

Speaking about the relations between Russia and EU, Igor Ivanov has said that it was necessary to attach the character "of strategic partnership" to the relations.

A New Project Involves Russia, Finland, and the Republic of Karelia

PETROZAVODSK, May 10 /The ITAR-TASS corr. Vladimir Zlobin, Vadim Lagutin/. Russia, Finland, and the Republic of Karelia are going to cooperate in a new project of development of the Euroregion "Karelia" program. The program is supposed to be the theme of the seminar on the issues of cross-border cooperation between Russia and Finland. The seminar will be held in May.

The joint project might open new and actually unlimited prospects of cooperation in economy, power supply, and culture between Russia and Finland. This is the way to decrease the gap between the level of life of the residents, living on both sides of the frontier. At the meeting it has been suggested that the Euroregion "Karelia" program should be viewed as a pilot project in relations with EU. Last updated: 11 May 2001