email editor
A new fishing agreement between Iceland and the Faroe Islands was signed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Þórdís Kolbrún (left) and Jenis av Rana (right). Photo: Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs
A framework agreement on fishing between Iceland and the Faroe Islands was signed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday 14 October 2022.
Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörð Gylfadóttir, Icelandic Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Jenis av Rana, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Culture of the Faroe Islands, signed the agreement.
The signing took place at a meeting of the ministers, where relations between the countries on a broad basis were discussed, among other things based on proposals in a report from a working group from September 2021, on relations between Iceland and the Faroe Islands and proposals for the future.
The framework agreement prescribes changes to the current implementation of the agreement by the states to withdraw from the annual correspondence agreement on fishing in the jurisdiction of the states, which has been submitted to Alþingi every autumn session. In the future, after the agreement has been ratified, it will be allowed to negotiate these fishing rights, as well as other related issues, at the states’ consultation meetings. They will be held annually based on authorization in the framework agreement. Negotiations between the states on changing the implementation have been going on for several years. In the framework agreement, the states emphasize continued close cooperation in relation to fishing and to ensure continued responsible fishing, protection and sustainable use of living marine resources in the long term.
Þórdís Kolbrún, Jenis av Rana and Vivian Motzfeldt, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greenland, also had a meeting together at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the afternoon, where the Minister of Foreign Affairs emphasized the importance of cooperation with our closest neighbours. At the meeting, the ministers also informed about the progress of business and cultural cooperation.
“Iceland’s relations with the Faroe Islands and Greenland are both strong and reliable, and they contain numerous opportunities for further development, as stated in recent reports where new areas of cooperation are mapped. It is my wish that the further implementation of goals for increased cooperation between the nations will proceed quickly and safely. Our relationship with these closest neighbours is extremely important to us,” says Foreign Minister Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörð Gylfadóttir.
Then they met Þórdís Kolbrún and Vivian Motzfeldt about relations between Iceland and Greenland. Among other things, the recently signed declaration of cooperation between Iceland and Greenland and cooperation in the fields of climate, trade, health, education, gender equality and tourism were discussed.