Fisheries deal with Russia renewed

The Faroes and Russia last night extended their fisheries agreement for one more year.

This decision has not gone down well with Danish politicians.

Morten Helveg Petersen, who represents the Danish Social Liberal Party in the EU Parliament, has for a long time highlighted the need to cut trade ties with Russia.

“This is not an appropriate signal to send in the middle of a global crisis in which the West needs to unite against the atrocities committed by Russia,” he told Danish national broadcaster DR.

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Many other Danish politicians from both sides of the political spectrum have expressed similar concerns.

However, a different perspective comes from Pernille Weiss, who represents the Danish Conservative Party in the EU Parliament, who says it is too easy to criticise the Faroes.

“European nations outside of the EU are caught in a practical, legal and ethical dilemma here,” she told DR.

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“We can choose to criticise the Faroes and Norway [both being non-EU members which continue to trade with Russia], but we can also choose to communicate better about this because Europe does not seem to be as united on the Russia issue as we like to believe.”

Weiss sees the Faroese deal renewal as an indication that the EU has been neglecting its relations with the Faroes.

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“I believe in cooperation and communication, and I regard the Faroese negotiations with Russia as a wake-up call which we in the EU should take very seriously,” she says.

“This is a good opportunity for Denmark and the EU to strengthen the cooperation with the Faroe Islands and work towards developing other major revenue sources for the Faroes beyond just fishery.”

The latest Faroese arguments for extending the deal are summarised in this article.

Read the Faroese versions of this article here and here.

More Faroese News in English.