Panel Discussion on Challenges and Opportunities for Russia's International Cooperation in Northern Europe within the New Conditions

On June 22, Petrozavodsk University hosted a panel discussion "Challenges and Opportunities for Russia's International Cooperation in the North of Europe within the New Conditions".

The event was organized by the PetrSU Arctic Center.

The discussion was conducted both in online and offline format. The speaker group included experts on security policy, foreign economic activity and international cooperation from the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IE RAS) and St. Petersburg State University.

The discussion was opened with the speech of Dmutry Danilov, Candidate of Economic Sciences, the Head of the European Security Department of the IE RAS, Professor at Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Vice-President of the Association for European Studies. He spoke about the reasons for the deterioration of political relations between Russia, the EU and NATO, about external factors of the decision-making process in Finland and Sweden on the NATO question, about the role of Northern Europe in US military-strategic planning, including plans on the deployment of a global missile defense system in close proximity to Russian borders and a possible response from Russia. "This is worse than the cold war," the expert noted, assessing the current situation in the world.

Nikita Lomagin, Professor of the Department of World Economy of St. Petersburg State University, Doctor of History, shared his opinion on the consequences of the rupture of trade and economic ties between the countries of Western and Northern Europe and Russia. The expert gave an assessment of the dynamics of the exports and imports structure of the Nordic countries, and also described the current problems in the labor market in Finland, Norway and Denmark in frames of the sanctions confrontation with Russia.

Summing up the socio-economic block, Valery Shlyamin, the discussion moderator, the scientific director of the Institute of Northern European and Arctic Studies of PetrSU, Doctor of Economics, concluded that there is the tendency to lose the achieved standards of the welfare society in the Northern European Countries.

An analysis of the military-political risks faced by Russia in the Barents Euro-Arctic region was presented by Valery Zhuravel, Candidate of Pedagogic Sciences, a leading researcher, head of the Center for Arctic Studies of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The key discussion points included the following: risks associated with the suspension of Western fuel and energy companies activities in Russia, the militarization of the Arctic region and the growth of Russian-American rivalry in the region, the desire of the Nordic countries governments to strengthen their military potential and the possible use of these territories and coastal waters as both for military bases and transit purposes.

Dmitry Lanko, Candidate of Political Science, Associate Professor of the Department of European Studies at St Petersburg University, shared his experience in implementing international educational cooperation with Finnish universities and the reaction to the Finnish government’s ban on any institutional cooperation with Russian state institutions. The expert also described the activities of the Arctic Council in the main areas of work until March 2022. Accordingly, the environmental situation in the Arctic is more complicated than in any other region of the world. Environmental cooperation in the region remains a promising area for the member countries of the Arctic Council, but it is too early to draw clear conclusions about the possible effects of such cooperation without Russia's participation.