The Saami Council's statement on the Arctic Council Pause
The Saami Council agrees with the statements published March 3 by seven Arctic states and the Russian Arctic Chairmanship’s to put the participation in formal meetings in the Arctic Council and its subsidiary bodies on hold to allow time to “the necessary modalities that can allow us to continue the Council’s important work in view of the current circumstances.”
Saami Council representatives will not attend any formal Arctic Council meetings or any of its subsidiary bodies’ meetings during this time. We hope the pause will not be too long. Now, more than ever, it is important to continue the Arctic cooperation to protect indigenous peoples’ cultures and the Arctic environment, this includes the scientific cooperation, monitoring, and long-time data sets to better understand the climate and environmental changes in the Arctic. The Saami Council role as Permanent Participant is our formal status in the Arctic Council.
Arctic Indigenous Peoples Organisations have a long-established cooperation, predating the Arctic Council cooperation. The Saami Council will strive to continue cooperation with our Indigenous brothers and sisters in the Arctic, including the ones based in the Russian Federation.
The Saami are one people living in four countries, for us it is essential to keep the ties among us and continue the long-established cooperation.
13.03.2022