Faroe Islands people want to break free from Denmark

TÓRSHAVN, Denmark — Enough is enough: for the Faroese sailor Birgir Enni, having spent more than half a millennium under Danish rule means it’s about time for the North Atlantic autonomous archipelago to break away.

“We’ve been occupied by Denmark for 600 years! That is enough and we need to change that soon,” the white-haired captain tells AFP on his wooden sailing ship.

Located more than 1,100 kilometers (more than 680 miles) northwest of powerhouse Copenhagen, the Faroe Islands have since 1948 had their own white, blue and red flag with an offset cross, their own language originating from the Viking’s Old Norse and institutions and culture.

With its breathtakingly green and high mountains covered by fog and inhabited by more sheep than people, the island territory is weighing the idea of pushing its autonomy to full independence.

“We are not Danes, we will never be Danes, we can’t be Danes, we are Faroese and that’s it… we have to stand up for it and fight for it,” says Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Poul Michelsen, who’s also the leader of the separatist Progressive Party.

“We are becoming more independent everyday… because we’re taking more and more responsibility. The gap between Denmark and the Faroes comes quite naturally,” Michelsen tells AFP in his office in the Faroese capital, Torshavn.

An unlikely alliance of the left, the right, separatists and unionists, the local government is now writing a constitution, which is aimed at capturing the Faroese identity and is seen by some as one of the final pieces of a puzzle leading to emancipation.