No plans to renew Cph representative contract

When the Head of the Representation of the Faroes in Copenhagen completed his term in autumn 2016 it was decided not to appoint a new representative immediately.

This is due to the assessment of the representative office system.

Sigmund Isfeldt, who served as the Head of the Representation of the Faroes in Copenhagen until 2016, still serves the same function, but based in the Faroes as part of his job at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Although the assessment report on the representative offices was completed last autumn and foreign minister Poul Michelsen decided not to shut down the representation office in Copenhagen, he has no plans to appoint a Copenhagen-based representative.

Instead, the minister wishes to continue with the current arrangement in which Sigmund Isfeldt resides in the Faroes and travels to Copenhagen on a regular basis to attend to matters pertaining to the role as a representative. This arrangement will also enable Isfeldt to carry out trade diplomacy duties.

Michelsen says that the representative office in Copenhagen, based in the North Atlantic House, does not have a formal diplomatic status, and that most of its tasks can be performed by the two staff members at the office.

He adds that it would be unwise to shut down the office because the Faroese state owns shares in the North Atlantic House building and the office thus serves many functions beyond the diplomatic field.

Last year’s operating costs for the Faroese representative office in Copenhagen amounted to DKK 3.5 million.

Translated by prosa.fo