The Faroe Islands: Options for independence

The Faroe Islands are currently at a crossroads in their constitutional status. Discussions
concerning changes in the current constitutional status are ongoing and several analyses
about possible trajectories of future development are being proposed. Argued in a context
of Faroese nationalism, this article tries to assess these trajectories in the future
jurisdictional and political development of the Faroe Islands in terms of three possible
scenarios: independence or full sovereignty (as is Iceland); a freely associated statehood
(as are Niue and the Cook Islands in relation to New Zealand); or a confederation,
probably involving changes at both the central level of the Danish state and the European
Union level. This article argues that the most likely future development is that of a state in
free association with Denmark. Meanwhile, island politics can change very quickly and the
traditional cleavages in Faroese politics are liable to changing degrees of public support.