The Norwegian Barents Secretariat aims at developing the Norwegian-Russian relations in the north by promoting and funding Norwegian-Russian cooperation projects. On behalf of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Secretariat grant funds to bilateral Norwegian-Russian cooperation projects. The Secretariat grants approximately 200 Norwegian-Russian projects annually.
The Secretariat is also a center of competence on Norwegian-Russian relations, by carrying through and finance various types of reviews or reports on relevant topics in the region. The Secretariat also coordinate the national goals with the regional political priorities within the frames of the multilateral Barents Cooperation, and work as a resource center for the councils, committees and working groups of the Barents Cooperation.
Head of the Norwegian Barents Secretariat is Rune Rafaelsen.
The agency also publishes the Barents Observer, which covers far northern news issues, with news stories from Russia, Norway, Sweden and Finland, published in English and Russian.[1]