Brussels, 22/08/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Danish Minister for European Affairs, Mr Bertel Haarder, has invited the foreign ministers o the EU countries and Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia to a conference in Ilulissat, Greenland, on 28 August. The meeting will be co-hosted by Premier Jonathan Motzfeldt of the Greenland Home Rule Government. Bertel Haarder declared in a press statement that, "The Conference on Greenland will provide the occasion for the first debate on the priorities for a new action plan" on the Northern dimension and would replace the current plan that expire in 2003.
Launched during the last phase of the Finnish Presidency, the integration strategy of the "Northern" dimension in European policy was requested by the Scandinavian countries at the same time as the EU's Mediterranean policy and the completion of enlargement. It aims to "promote cross border co-operation between the EU and the neighbouring countries and regions in the North of Europe in view of ensuring growth, security and stability in the region", pointed out the Presidency in a communiqué.
As well as issues linked to relations with Russia and the enclave of Kaliningrad, the meeting will also discuss, "current research into the climate and the environment in Greenland and other parts of the Arctic", indicated Bertel Haarder. The Greenland government intends to stress the "Arctic window within the Northern Dimension". In a paper that will be submitted to the Ilussat Conference, the government proposes the integration of the "Northern Dimension" into the specific problems of the Arctic regions, given their low-density population, isolation and extreme climate conditions.