The West Nordic Council (, , , ) is a cooperative forum for the parliaments and governments of Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland. It was initially founded in 1985 as the West Nordic Parliamentarian Council of Cooperation, but the name was changed in 1997. The council is composed of six MPs from each nation appointed by their respective parliaments. The annual general meeting of the council rotates between the members and is its highest authority. A presidium of three members, including the council's president, oversees the organization of its work and activities.
The nations of the Council share a somewhat common recent history: Greenland and the Faroes are autonomous territories of Denmark and Iceland is a former Danish possession. They also share a similar economic base, all being dependent on fisheries. The council's main objectives are: To promote West Nordic (North Atlantic) interests. To be guardians of north Atlantic resources and North Atlantic culture and to help to promote West Nordic interests through the West Nordic governments – not least with regard to the serious issues of resource management, pollution, etc. To follow up on the governments' West Nordic cooperation. To work with the Nordic Council and to be the West Nordic link in Nordic cooperation. To act as the parliamentary link for inter-West Nordic organizations, including Arctic parliamentary cooperation.Vestnordisk Råd
The West Nordic Council is separate from the Nordic Council, although all of the members of the West Nordic Council are also members of the Nordic Council and there is some cooperation between the two.
General meetings and leadership
No. Location Year Elected president 1st Nuuk 1985 Jens K. Lyberth 2nd 1986 Páll Pétursson 3rd 1987 Hans Jacob Debes 4th 1988 Preben Lange 5th 1989 Friðjón Þórðarson 6th 1990 Karin Kjølbro 7th 1991 Jonathan Motzfeldt 8th 1992 Steingrímur J. Sigfússon 9th 1993 Lisbeth L. Petersen 10th 1994 Jonathan Motzfeldt 11th Qaqortoq 1995 Árni Johnsen 12th Vestmannaeyjar 1996 Lisbeth L. Petersen 13th Øravík 1997 Jonathan Motzfeldt 14th Ilulissat 1998 Ísólfur Gylfi Pálmason 15th Skeiðahreppur 1999 Jógvan Durhuus 16th Tórshavn 2000 Ole Lynge 17th Nuuk 2001 Hjálmar Árnason 18th Stykkishólmur 2002 Jógvan á Lakjuni 19th Eiði 2003 Jonathan Motzfeldt 20th Narsarsuaq 2004 Birgir Ármannsson 21st Ísafjörður 2005 Henrik Old 22nd Tórshavn 2006 Jonathan Motzfeldt 23rd Nuuk 2007 Karl V. Matthíasson 24th Grundarfjörður 2008 Kári P. Højgaard 25th Runavík and Tórshavn 2009 Josef Motzfeldt 26th Tasiilaq 2010 Ólína Þorvarðardóttir 27th Bifröst University 2011 Kári P. Højgaard 28th 2012 Josef Motzfeldt 29th 2013 Unnur Brá Konráðsdóttir 30th Vestmannaeyjar 2014 Bill Justinussen 31st Runavík 2015 Lars Emil Johansen 32nd 2016 Bryndís Haraldsdóttir 33rd 2017 34th 2018 35th 2019 36th 2020 37th 2021 Kim Kielsen 38th Nuuk 2022 Steinunn Þóra Árnadóttir 39th Reykjavík 2023 Jenis av Rana 40th 2024
See also Hoyvík Agreement - an Iceland-Faroes free trade agreement that might be expanded to Greenland creating a West Nordic free trade zone. Arctic cooperation and politics
References
External links