17 International cooperations

Saepmie transgresses national borders, and to a certain extent transnational cooperation is both inevitable, self-evident, and easy. However, Saepmie is vast, and stretching over both cultural, geographical and political borders that may inhibit cooperation in many ways. There is some cooperation with the Saamis in Russia, although to a lesser degree.

Cooperation between the Nordic countries is extensive. One important example is the parliamentary cooperation between the Saami parliaments in Finland, Norway and Sweden. This is constituted by 21 parliamentarians, and they deal with all kinds of issues that concern the Saami as a nation. Language issues are prominent in this regard. Other issues are alleviating traffic and cooperation across the borders, and joint policies and measures towards predator animals. There is a conference for Saami parliamentarians each third year, and also representatives from Saami organizations in Russia participate here.

In particular the cooperation between Sweden and Norway is a vital and important part of South Saami life and existence. Most notable here in our context is the Saami language centers. They have extensive coopertion over the national border in terms of exchange of material, communication of ideas, and joined efforts in projects and applications for funding.