We, the participants of the 4th International
Forum for Young Politicians of Northwest Russia and the Nordic Countries
Young representatives of Regions of Arkhangelsk, Leningrad,
Murmansk, Saint Petersburg, and Karelian Republic, Nenets Autonomous District,
representatives of National Assembly of Young Elected Representatives
in Russia, representatives of Parliaments of Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
representatives of County of Troms (Norway), Sami Parliaments in
Finland, Norway and Sweden, the Nordic Council, the Nordic Youth
Council, Youth Organizations in Finland and Sweden.
, met in Stockholm, Sweden, 18-20 April 2012, in order to discuss
issues of open societies and new developments, student exchanges
and healthy life-styles in Northwest Russia and the Nordic Countries,
Referring to the resolutions of the First, Second and
Third International Forums for young politicians of the Northwest
Russia and Nordic countries, which were held in Murmansk (Russian Federation)
27 March, 2009, in Kirkenes (Norway) 23 March, 2010 and in Arkhangelsk
22-23 March 2011, we are:
Acknowledging and respecting international standards
in the sphere of youth politics;
Being aware of the fundamental principles and mutual
interests in the sphere of building-up principally new youth generation;
And we appeal to the representatives of Russia and
Nordic countries to draw the attention to the resolution of problems
of the international youth cooperation;
Regarding open societies and new developments we:
Recognize that the principle of equality and
non-discrimination apply to all people at all times, as expressed
in the European Convention on Human rights, article 14. No-one shall
be discriminated against on any ground by any public authority;
Recognize indigenous societies and national
minority societies’ rights to maintaining their culture, language,
and community, independent of States’ politics, urging the states
to do the same;
Recognize our responsibility to protect our
citizens’ fundamental human rights in our home countries;
Acknowledge, in that respect, that the principle of
equality and non-discrimination, be it on grounds of race, ethnicity,
religious belief, gender or sexual orientation, is a fundamental
element in the protection of human rights;
Underline that freedom of opinion and freedom of
expression is not only a fundamental human right according to the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 19; it is also essential
in enabling democracy to work and to promote public participation
in decision-making;
Recalling Recommendation No. R (2000)7 of the
Committee of Ministers’ of the Council of Europe on the right of
journalists not to disclose their sources of information, the Forum
reaffirms that the protection of journalists’ sources of information
is a basic condition for both the full exercise of journalistic
work and the right of the public to be informed on matters of public concern,
as expressed by the European Court of Human Rights in its case law
under Article 10 of the Convention.
Regarding student exchanges we:
Urge that education should not be dependent
on states and borders. Equal rights to education ought to be a reality
in Russia and all Nordic countries, independent of state borders;
Recommend an increase in the possibilities of granting
visas to students, teachers and researchers for an effective exchange
of ideas and knowledge;
Encourage student exchanges agreements between
Nordic countries and Russia, through exchange programmes, bilateral
agreements and various exchange networks;
Recommend that the synergies between the different
education, research and cultural programmes in the region be actively
encouraged; recommends to this end the development of distance learning
programmes that open the door to closer cooperation;
Take the view that there is an existing need
of additional financial resources in order to establish exchange
programmes for students; of the providing of mechanisms to assure
the quality and comparability of higher education; and also the
supporting of cooperation between institutions of higher education;
Underline the need to address the issue of youth unemployment.
Regarding healthy life-styles we:
Underline the responsibility for all institutions
of education at all levels to include physical training in the education
and to mediate the importance of a healthy lifestyle to their students;
Emphasize the importance of raising drug awareness,
supporting drug awareness and prevention programs/initiatives in
our respective countries, promoting the benefits of healthy lifestyle
choices and making resources available, and realize that, while
alcohol misuse can present health risks and cause careless behavior
in all age groups, it is even more dangerous for young people;
Encourage parliamentarians to make use of existing
partnerships such as The Northern Dimension Partnership in Public
Health and Social Well-being to achieve improvement regarding the
health situation, specifically regarding the use of alcohol and
other drugs, by working closely with governments, civil society,
local communities, multilateral organizations, global funds and
foundations, the media, and the private sector.
In addition we:
Encourage National Parliaments to appoint young
politicians from respective regions to relevant parliamentary conferences;
Appeal to the parliamentarians to transfer this resolution
to the “round table” session between Nordic and Russian parliamentarians,
to be held in Helsinki, Finland, 15-16 May 2012;
Welcome the kind invitation of the Parliament
of the Karelian Republic to host the 5th International Forum for
Young Politicians of Northwest Russia and the Nordic Countries.