Officials from both the Faroe Islands and Greenland have declared that they are tired of being referred to as territories of the Danish kingdom. Their desire is to be called “countries” by the intergovernmental Nordic region rather than self-governing territories.
Siku News reports that that Greenland and the Faroes have called for current naming conventions to be amended so that “countries and autonomous territories” becomes “states and countries”, “kingdoms and autonomous countries” or “kingdoms and countries”. The requests were formally announced last week at the annual Nordic Council meeting which was held in Stockholm.
According to Josef Motzfeldt, the chair of the West Nordic Council: “The council feels it is a slight to Greenland and the Faroe Islands that the word ‘country’ is used only to refer to sovereign states”.
Both consider themselves countries due to the fact that they can choose to cut their ties to the Danish kingdom at any point, despite historic allegiances. Norse Greenlanders originally submitted to the rule of Norway and subsequently Denmark in the 14th century. Though essentially under the control of the Inuit after Norse settlements died out Denmark reasserted its claims to sovereignty in the 18th century.
In 1933, the Permanent Court for Arbitration declared that Greenland belonged to Denmark in the face of renewed Norwegian claims. Greenland also became a political target of the United States during the Cold War when the US offered USD 100 million for its purchase.
Granted home-rule by the Danish parliament in 1979, Greenland achieved self-rule in 1985. The Faroe Islands have been a Danish autonomous province since 1948.
To Faroese: The Nordic region doesn’t consist of 8 million people – only Sweden has over 9 million people. The Nordic countries, if combined, have a population of 25.8 million people and one of the largest economies in the world. The Nordic economy is actually in the top 10 in the world.
The EU is just the wrong direction in history. This is 21st century. The world is a big place. There are billions people outside EU to trade with.
Many of those billions people are simply in so called 2nd tier country and getting richer every day ( look to China for example ).
Inside the EU a country cannot trade freely with the rest of world becuase the EU commission does control all trade. The EU is a customs union. Not a free trade area.
EFTA is the free trade area. And the UK did found it in 1960s only to make the mistake and leave for then called EC in the mid 1970s. What a mistake that was.
Of couerse Greeland and Faroes can become independent and out side EU.
But Scotland is more likely to get independnce and out of UK and join EU itself.. than Faroes is to leave Danish rule and join EU on its own.
But Greenland will go for full independence and stay out of the EU very likely in next 5 years or so. And they will thrive.
Just as Iceland will continue to do.
@Jim
is it vital that the Faroe Islands stay under the danish crown?
You obviously have no idea what you are talking about.
I think (based on complicated facts, and the way the world functions under capitalism) that independence is crucial for a healthy economy on the Faroe Islands.
In regards to safety politics. If the UK or the U.S wanted any of the nordic countries they would be able to take them. the nordic region consists of 8m people, who have never contributed on equal terms as the rest of the world when it comes to UN or other world expanding peace keeping unions.
Greenland seems willfully ignorant of predatory nations, like the U.S. and the British Crown, that will fearfully loot and plunder it if Nuuk achieves independence from Denmark.
Perhaps a new cooperative architecture with the Danish Crown is in order but, it is vital that the Faroes and Greenland be in union with Denmark. If Greenland were independent, it would be unable to defend itself from predatory bankers like Goldman Sachs and their enforcers, i.e. CIA, MI6, Mossad, and any other predatory NGO.
Please don’t get carried away with the rhetoric of independence. The United States and Britain have abandoned their mythical roles as forces for good in the world. The U.S. and Britain have been acting as predatory agents for a malicious globalist movement which features malignant global banks at its core.
Denmark appears able to fend off these financial cartels. It is in Greenland’s and the Faroes Islands’ best interest to stay under the Danish Crown as long as the Crown faithfully fulfills its role as benevolent guardian.
The Faroe Islands are 700 times bigger than Monaco, 9 times bigger than Liechtenstein and 4 times bigger than Malta (a member of the EU).
Could they join the EU? Sure, they could.
>Maybe Iceland should take over Greenland?? Why not?
Because they can’t afford the annual subsidy?
O. L. I agree with you a long way – but still: there is an enormous difference between the Faroes and Greenland. Finland and China are more alike than the Faroes and Greenland!
If anything, Greenland has more in common with Iceland than the Faroes. Maybe Iceland should take over Greenland?? Why not?
If Greenland and the Faroe are that eager to be called countries, let them take their independence once and for all. What are they waiting for?
Sometimes I get the impression they want the benefits of being independent without the costs. Tired of being Danish territories, but never tired of receiving Danish subsidies. The Faroe also want a benefit of EU membership (the euro) without being an EU member (and therefore without contributing a single cent to the EU budget).
there is an enormous difference between the Faroes and Greenland.
They have roughly the same population size, but while Greenland gets 3-4 billion kroner from Denmark every year, the Faroes get only a fraction of that, around half a billion kroner.
In many ways the Faroes is like a micro-country with a thriving economy, Greenland is sadly more like a giant social security office. For Greenland to even think about governing themselves for real is more like a joke than reality.
>Is it possible we’ll see the Faroe’s ever joining the EU??
Hopefully not. The Faroe Islands are too small to even be called a micro state.
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So if Faroe Islands cut off their ties with Denmark, how does it infect their relations with Europe regarding the question if to join the EU or not?
Is it possible we’ll see the Faroe’s ever joining the EU??
England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are countries. And so to is the UK. If Wales can be called a country, then why not Greenland.