The North Atlantic Group in the Danish Parliament (Folketinget)
Danish parliamentary elections include the election of four North Atlantic members of parliament (MPs) from the two semi-autonomous regions of the Kingdom of Denmark – two from Greenland and two from the Faroe Islands.
Through the years the choice either to stand alone as a crossbencher or to disappear into the Danish parties’ parliamentary groups has not been satisfactory for all North Atlantic MPs. This was the main reason for the establishment of the North Atlantic Group after the Danish parliamentary election of 2001. The group was formed as a strategic alliance whose purpose was to strengthen Greenlandic and Faroese influence in Folketinget and to give the North Atlantic MPs better means of representing their North Atlantic electorate.
Today the group consists of Juliane Henningsen from the Greenlandic party Inuit Ataqatigiit and Høgni Hoydal from the Faroese party Tjóðveldi. The group is accessible to all four North Atlantic MPs, as North Atlantic unity in Folketinget is understood to promote the common interests of Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
In Folketinget the group speaks the North Atlantic cause during parliament sessions, committee meetings and meetings with other parties. We try to inform the public and to influence other parties to take into account North Atlantic interests. We question ministers, we put forward inquiries in the parliament hall, and we demand involvement in consultation and debates relating to the challenges we face in the Nordic region and in the rest of the world. Our student events and conferences – where subjects such as subsidies from Denmark to the Faroe Islands/Greenland, Faroese/Greenlandic demographic challenges, development of society, international security cooperation, and climate challenges are discussed in depth – are always well attended. We have also conducted studies, which are commonly used by scientists and other professionals and by the public.
By providing general information about the North Atlantic and through critical dialogue with other parties in Folketinget the North Atlantic Group wants to promote recognition of cultural and political similarities and differences between Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Denmark. This, we believe, is an essential precondition for healthy cooperation and for individual as well as national independence. In short, our visions are Independence, Solidarity and Visibility for the Faroe Islands and Greenland.
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