4th International Forum for Young Politicians
of North-West Russia and the Nordic Countries
Stockholm 18–20 April 2012
Resolution
RESOLUTION
We, the participants of the 4th International Forum for Young Politicians of Northwest Russia
and the Nordic Countries*, 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 decisionmaking;
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.
* 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.
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.
Sveriges riksdag • SE-100 12 Stockholm • +46 8 786 40 00 • www.riksdagen.se
Produktion: Riksdagens informationsenhet, Tryck: Riksdagstryckeriet 2012
THE SWEDISH PARLIAMENT