Heini í Skorini & Tór Marni Weihe
Amid growing geopolitical instability and competition in the Arctic and North Atlantic region, this article investigates how the Faroe Islands – a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark – has pursued a sophisticated and opportunistic balancing act between economic cooperation with Russia and broader alliance commitments vis-à-vis Denmark, EU and NATO. Focusing on the period from 2014 to 2024, the article examines how the Faroe Islands deepened its cooperation with Russia in the field of trade and fishery in the wake of the Russian annexation of Crimea and subsequently benefited from Russian sanctions against EU products. This period illustrates how sub-sovereign entities with extensive self-governing authority can pursue their own national interests that might run against broader Western alliance interests. However, after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Faroese policies towards Russia drastically changed and aligned with broader Western alliance commitments. Drawing on alliance theory and the concept of hedging, the article examines the complexities facing small, autonomous entities within larger political unions when alliance commitments and domestic economic imperatives collide. Furthermore, the article exemplifies how small, self-governing regions can assert meaningful strategic autonomy in a polarised global order. However, as the period after the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022 reveals, there are definite limits to such autonomy.
