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Northern cultural partnership to be discussed in Kajaani

Ministry of Education
Publication date 4.10.2007 10.49
Press release -

The Ministry of Education and the Nordic Council of Ministers will co-host a Conference on the Northern Dimension and Culture on 8-9 October as part of the Finnish Chairmanship of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The conference will be opened by Minister of Culture and Sport Stefan Wallin.

The conference will convene experts from the foreign affairs administrations of the Nordic countries and Russia, the northern regional councils, the cultural organisations of the European Union, Russia and the Nordic countries, and representatives of the EU Presidency Portugal and the European Commission.

The conference is follow-up to the expert meeting held in Kajaani during the Finnish EU Presidency in autumn 2006. The cultural cooperation launched at this meeting is called the Kajaani process. A joint EU-Russia working group on culture was set up last February to draw up the first action plan for cultural cooperation between the EU and Russia. This will be submitted to the first Permanent Partnership Council on culture, which will convene at the invitation of the EU Presidency Portugal on 25 October 2007.

The second Kajaani conference will formulate proposals for the EU-Russia action plan. In addition it will prepare the Nordic Council of Ministers programme for cultural cooperation with Northwestern Russia and discuss the need and possibilities to establish a Northern Dimension cultural partnership in the North.

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The conference languages are English and Russia. Journalists are welcome to attend the conference.

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More information about the conference
- Counsellor for Cultural Affairs Maija Lummepuro, tel. +358-(0)9-160 77292

More information about press arrangements and requests for interviews:
- Press Officer Pia Ekqvist, tel. +358-(0)9-160 77404 or +358-(0)40 740 0873