A group of European Parliament members, led by Dutch politician-activist Anja Hazekamp, have published an open letter to the Faroese Government, in particular Prime Minister Beinir Johannesen and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Fisheries Bárður á Steig Nielsen, threatening to work against Faroese interest at the EU level.
“On behalf of 33 Members of the European Parliament, I hereby send you a letter on our concerns over the Grindadráp in relation to the upcoming renegotiation of the EU Horizon research programme,” wrote Antje Anna Helena ‘Anja’ Hazekamp, MEP for the Netherlands and member of the ‘Party For the Animals’, in a preface to the open letter.
“We believe it is important to maintain a positive cooperation between the EU and the Faroe Islands in the field of research and trade,” Ms. Hazekamp added in the preface. “However, we can not agree with the renewal of EU-subsidies or with further liberalization of trade, if the Faroe Islands don’t align policies on cetacean protection and finally put an end to the hunting of pilot whales and Atlantic white-sided dolphins.”
Sent by email and dated September 3rd, 2026, the letter itself—titled ‘Call to end hunting of pilot whales and maintain a positive cooperation in the field of research and trade’—was signed by 33 MEPs.
“As Members of the European Parliament, we hereby address our serious concerns over the ongoing brutal hunting of pilot whales and white-sided dolphins carried out in the Faroe Islands,” the MEPs stated, adding: “Thousands of citizens have been contacting us, urging the European Parliament to take immediate and decisive action against the Grindadráp.”
“In 2021 the European Parliament already made a formal call on the Faroe Islands to stop its controversial hunt on pilot whales,” the statement went on. “In 2022 a further resolution was adopted by the European Parliament, stressing the importance of internationally protecting whale populations. We regret that these calls have not been answered by the Faroe Islands, despite good EU-Faroese collaboration in other sectors.”
“On the opposite: we even note that the Faroese Parliament recently voted to exclude the practice of Grindadráp from the scope of the Animal Welfare Act,” the MEPs said. “As a result of this, a group of 80 Members of the European Parliament from across the political spectrum, have tabled an amendment to mandate country-of-origin labelling for fish products from the Faroe Islands, enabling consumers to make informed choices.”
Meanwhile Ms. Hazekamp appears to have visited the Faroe Islands back in July, posting social media videos to campaign against the island nation’s whale-hunting tradition.
Out of the 720-strong European Parliament, the group of 33 represents merely 4.6 percent of the total vote there although, as suggested in their letter, their potential influence could reach well beyond those numbers.