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Sari Nurro, a member of the Regional Board of the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region, has been elected as the Chairperson of CPMR's Baltic Sea Commission's Maritime Working Group 2025 - 2026. The selection was made by the Executive Board of the CPMR Baltic Sea Commission at its meeting in Brussels on 5 February 2025, while the chairs of the other working groups were also elected. The board meeting took place this time in Brussels, as the new European Commission is currently preparing the upcoming seven-year budget proposal. The purpose of the meeting in Brussels was to highlight important priorities for the Baltic Sea Commission in the preparation of the budget. The Agenda included views on regional and structural policy, transport policy, safety, competitiveness and the Arctic. Four Members of the European Parliament, Merja Kyllönen, Pekka Toveri, Elsi Katainen and Sofie Eriksson from Sweden were heard at the meeting. One of the objectives of the meeting was to strengthen contacts in cooperation with Members of the new European Parliament elected last year.…

Region Norrbotten visited the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region on Monday and Tuesday. We held a joint meeting on topical issues in Norrbotten and Northern Ostrobothnia. In particular, we discussed logistical cross-border links, cohesion policy and the industrial policy of the European Union. The start of international daily train traffic between Oulu and Haparanda The electrification of the Laurila-Tornio-Haaparanta line will be completed at the turn of 2024-2025. The Regional Assembly of Oulu Region has proposed to the Finnish Government that funding be included in the 2025 budget to enable international daily train traffic between Oulu and Haparanda. The purchase agreement of the Ministry of Transport and Communications should be allocated EUR 2.1 million to the state budget as of 2025. Opening up passenger traffic across the border would enable the development of tourism, and the rail connection would also serve the working area of the Bothnian Arc. The European Capital of Culture 2026 in Oulu and the region would also greatly benefit from a better train connection to Sweden.…

The Baltic Sea Commission's maritime working group of CPMR met in Oulu on 3-4 June. The theme of the meeting was the role of ports in the Baltic Sea. The event included a review of the security situation in the Baltic Sea by Pekka Toveri, former Chief of Intelligence of the Finnish Defence Forces, as well as presentations on the ports of Oulu and Stockholm and the Raahe region. In the new TEN-T regulation, the Port of Oulu rose from a comprehensive network to a core network. “Ports have been an important topic on the agenda of the Maritime Working Group during this EU mandate period, and their importance will be further emphasised in the future due to the security policy situation in the Baltic Sea. It is also important to ensure an adequate level of CEF funding to support port investments. The participation of our key partner regions in the meeting of the Maritime Working Group in Oulu was particularly valuable," says Sari Nurro, Chairman of the Maritime Working Group and Member of the Regional Board of Northern Ostrobothnia. On Tuesday 4.6, the marine working group made a visit…

Finland has been a member of NATO for over a year. Membership has required a change in our thinking. In addition to defending our own country, we are now a member of the Alliance. It is our duty to ensure that, in addition to reconciling NATO's needs, our NATO partners understand our specificities and needs. As a member of NATO, Finland has joined NATO's research and innovation initiatives. Especially important for Oulu was the decision of NATO's DIANA programme. DIANA stands for Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic. DIANA implements NATO's innovation policy, which is based on new disruptive technologies. In Finland, the structure of the DIANA programme is a national business accelerator and two test centres, a 6G test centre coordinated by the University of Oulu, and another VTT test centre for space and quantum technology. DIANA has offices in Oulu and Espoo in addition to …

Support under the Act on Fixed Broadband Construction 1262/2020 can be applied for in the area of the city of Haapavesi. Applications addressed to the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region must be submitted by 17.6 noon at the latest by e-mail to kirjaamo@pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi More information on the project area, the application procedure and the selection criteria can be found at https://www.pohjois-karjala.fi/broadband.