Foreign Affairs Committee summons Faroese minister over defence meeting

The Faroese Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee summoned Foreign Minister Bárður á Steig Nielsen on Wednesday to explain his meeting with Danish Defence Minister Jeppe Bruus, Kringvarp Føroya reported.

Bruus visited the Faroe Islands over the weekend and met with Nielsen. After the meeting, Bruus said they had agreed to increased military activity. Nielsen, however, has maintained that no concrete agreement was reached.

Some committee members criticised Nielsen for not consulting the committee. Jørgen Niclasen, the committee’s chair, told Kringvarp Føroya that this was the first time the committee had used its authority to summon a minister for a briefing.

“I thought we should get information, so I used the authority that allows the chair to ask the minister to brief the committee,” Niclasen said.

Under the Parliament’s rules, the committee chair or a majority of its members can summon the prime minister or a minister to provide information on specific matters. The seven-member committee is consulted on decisions of major foreign policy importance, as well as significant negotiations with Danish authorities concerning relations between the Faroe Islands and Denmark.

Niclasen described the authority as relatively new and said it could help ensure that the political system spoke with one voice on foreign policy by raising the level of information available to lawmakers.