PM supports new commonwealth initiative

The Danish commonwealth should have its separate ministry in Denmark, with either a Faroese or a Greenlandic minister.

This idea was recently proposed by the Danish Conservative Party, which says this would bring Denmark, Greenland and the Faroes closer together and make the commonwealth more coherent.

Prime Minister agrees Faroese Prime Minister Bárður á Steig Nielsen supports this idea.

“This proposal seems generally reasonable. Merging all commonwealth administration into one unit would improve communication and cooperation,” he says.

“Such a ministry would be a natural extension of the current liaison committee and would further improve our cooperation.”

Tjóðveldi disagrees

The Prime Minister represents Sambandsflokkurin (the Union Party), the Most Denmark-friendly party in Parliament. At the other end of this spectrum is republican party Tjóðveldi, whose leader, Høgni Hoydal, finds the whole thing rather odd.

“It’s embarrassing to hear the Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands express support for the Danish colonial empire, thus totally undermining Faroese democracy,” he says.

“Our communication within the commonwealth and in international matters should go through our own ministries, and we should decide with whom we work and how it is done.”

In addition to setting up a commonwealth ministry, the Danish Conservative Party wants Danish national broadcaster DR to produce more content about the Faroes and Greenland. The party also calls for increased focus on the Faroes and Greenland in Danish schools.

Read the Faroese version of this article here and here (0:56-4:41).

More Faroese News in English.