mikudagur 19. mai 1999síða 19

A fyri at fáa øll møgulig slóg av politiskum, búskaparlig- um, sosialum, útbúgvingar- ligum, mentanarligum og ít- róttarligum samstørvum. Avis øki, sum fyrst renna til hugs, eru: Samstarv við at menna olju- og gassvinnuna í Norðuratlantshavi Ferðafólk úr Bretlandi Fáa Bretland at hava for- oysk áhugamál í huga í ES- samráðingum Fáa føroyingar at lesa og arbeiða í Bretlandi. Í løtuni hava norðmenn og íslend- ingar loyvi at arbeiða í Bret- landi, men føroyingar mugu hava danskt pass og sostatt í passhøpi vera ES-borgarar Steðga stuðlinum, bretska stjórnin = gevur nøkrum nýggjum grindaherferðum Í nýggju viðurskiftunum er tað av stórum týdningi. at føroyingar ikki eru pass vir partnarar og bert fylgja við bretsku ætlanunum. At byrja við kunnu teir sjálvir taka fyrsta stigið og skapa samband við nýggja skotska heimastýrið í Edinburgh Donald Dewar og hansara starvsfelagar høvdu uttan iva verið áhugaðir í at hoyra um royndirnar. foroyingar hava havt við sínum heim astýri seinastu 50 árini. Eg skjóti upp, at teir frá fyrstan tíð fara undir sín egna „sjarmuoffensiv“ við at bjóða høgum bretum, sum hava åvirkan, til Før- oya, so hesir sjålvir kunnu uppliva hetta serstaka land- ið. Nógvir av teimum høvdu uttan iva farið heim aftur til Bretlands bergtiknir av sama vakurleika, sum William Morris, John Buc- han og John Betjeman og fleiri av teirra landsmonn um hava verið. Hesi sam- bondini kunnu geva 6avm- arkaðar fyrimunir til For oyar í framtíðar viðurskift- unum við Bretland Bretski sendiharrin í Danmark er millum gestirnar. Her er hjann saman við Annfinni Kallsberg, løgmanni tíðindablaðið Føroyar Bretland Future relations between Faroes and Britain by Louis Wilson The British reluctance to angage politically was mir- rored for very different rea- sons on the Faroese side. Was traditionally a sense of living in the shadow of a great imperial power who Here there posed a threat to their very existence as a distinct people. These perceptions were expressed by the man who was the very embodi- ment of the Faroese Social Democratic Party, the former Prime Minister Pe- tur Mohr Dam when he ad- ressed the Nordic Council in Reykjavik in 1965. He spoke of the Faroese having been spared the fate of their kinfolk the Shetlanders >hvis nordiske kultur og liv blev opslugt af det britiske imperium og den internationale tiltrækningskraft«. (Jan, can you translate the Danish for me). In the early years of the century the threat was all too visible to the Faroese. Large fleets of British steam-powered trawlers could be seen crowding the fishing grounds right up to a mere three miles away from the shoreline. The effect was to squeeze Faro- ese inshore fishermen (iit- róðrarmenn) out of teir home waters. Later on in the 1960's the Faroese took the long over- due step of extending their fishing limits. They were met with punitive bans on Faroese fish landings at British ports. Britain's apparent disre- gard for its small neighbour to the North continued right into the 1990's when they pressed their outrageously unfair claim for sovereignty on sub-sea resources in far into Faroese waters. Com- menting on this in his own inimitable way, the then Danish Foreign Minister, Uffe Elleman-Jensen observed that this encroachment would have enabled the inhabitants of Suduroy (the southernmost of the Faroe Islands) to spit into British waters. Further salt was rubbed into the wound by way the British Government appeared to promote the animal welfare groups campaigning against the pilot whale hunt. These were groups pledged to >bring the Faroes to their knees< by means of an economic boycott who routinely smeared Faroese people as bloodthirsty barbarians. Yet they were still. able to get representation on official UK delegations to the International = Whaling Congress. As part of their engage- ment with the Faroe Islands — the — British Government will undoubtably start inviting prominent politicians and influential opinion formers on official visits to Britain. Their programmes will be placed in the hands of the practiced professionals from the Foreign Office who will do everything to ensure that the visitor leaves with the best impressions of the host country. They will be wined and dined and stre- nuous efforts will be made to meet whatever indi- vidual wishes they have with regard to sightseeing and meeting eminent per- sonalities. No doubt the Løgmaður will feature próminently on the invitation list. And i think we can confidently expect that he will be re- ceived with the ceremony appropriate to a national leader. This would certainly be a contrast to the experiences of his predecessors. I don't think there was much ceremony at the Fish Dock in Grimsby when old Håkun Djurhuus stepped off a trawler to pursue fishery negotiations with the British in the 1960's. Neit- her was there much recog- nition of Atli Dam's status when he was in Britain on a similar errand in the fol- lowing decade. Interviewes on BBC television, he was introduced as >a Faroese member of the Danish de- legation«. It is obviously easy to be cynical about the kind of British »charm offensive< we can now expect and conclude that beneficiaries of it will be bought off. This would be true if their heads are turned by such VIP treatment. But if people go into such visits with their eyes open then the links that are created can only help the Faroe Islands. The British clearly have an agenda based on their national interests to pursue in their engagement with the Faroe Islands. They want visitors to return to their countries favourably disposed to- wards Britain. There is not- hing dishonourable about this. It is a normal tool of diplomacy. But it does put the onus on the Faroese to decide what they want out of the relationship and to pursue this with equal de- termination. There must af- ter all be large areas of mu- tual interest. This means it is time for some strategic thinking about relations with the Faroe Islands clo- sest neighbour to the South. A new relationship with Britain offers an opportu- nity to lessen dependence on Denmark and further erode the »tunnel vision« which sees Copenhagen as the sole gateway to the out- side world. This must surely be a healthy development irrespective of whether the Faroese Governsment's aim is fullveld (sovereignty sta- tus?) of a reshaping of the relationship between nati- ons in the Danish Kingdom (Ríksfelagskap). The Bri- tísh Empire is no more al- though the Faroese could have been forgiven for thinking otherwise when the UK sought to extend its territory onto their doorstep in the early 1990's. Instead Britain is finally carrying out constitutional reform in a conscious attempt to adapt to its modern place in the world. New centres of poser have been created in Scotland and Wales. This creates further opportunities for the Faroese to develop all sorts of political, economic, so- cial, eduvational, cultural and sporting links on a more equal footing than has previously been possible. In terms of specifics, the areas which immediately come to mind for the Faroese to focus on are: * Collaboration in develo- ping Oil and Gas resour- ces in the North Atlantic. * Encouraging tourism from Britain. * Persuading Britain to take account of Faroese interests in EU negotiations. + Pursuing opportunities for Faroese to study and work in UK. Currently, Norwegians and Icelan- ders are allowes to work in the UK but Faroese have to obtain Danish Passport and pass them- selves off as EU citizen * Neutralise British Go- vernment support for any renewed campaign against Grindadråp. In this new relationship it is ennential that the Faroese to not remain passive partners waiting to be swept along by the British agenda. For a start they could take the initiative in forming links with the new Scottish Home Govemment in Edinburgh. Donald Dewar and his colleagues would surely be interested in the Faroe Islands experience of operating Home Rule over the past 50 years. I would also suggest that the Faroese should start their own >charm offensive« by inviting influential British people to the Faroe Islands so that tey can experience this unique country at first hand. Many of them would no doubt return to Britain captivated by the beauty of the scenery and the special qualities of the people in the Same way as William Morris, John Buchan and John Betheman and many of their compatriots have been over the years. These kind of attachments could be of inestimable benefit to the Faroe Islands in future relations with Britain.