Scottish vote inspires Bornholm’s independence party

Self-rule party sees it as a learning experience

Scotland’s nail-biting vote for independence has breathed fire into separatist dreams from villages in Catalonia and Kurdistan to quaint hamlets in Flanders and the midlands of Texas. And now Bornholm is getting in on the action.

The members of the island’s self-rule party Bornholms Selvstyre Parti – which lists Bornholm’s independence as the only agenda on its election platform – find the Scottish vote an inspiring learning experience.

“I think we can learn a lot from them,” Tonny Borrinjaland, the head of Bornholms Selvstyre Parti, told Berlingske newspaper.

“And we want the same thing: to be independent or have some kind of self-rule government, like they have on the Faroe Islands and Greenland.”

READ MORE: Denmark will adapt, says ‘Yes’ camp, just like Scotland will

Island challenges
Borrinjaland said that Bornholm’s desire for self-rule stems from a host of challenges that the island faces, including a poor economy and an exodus of its residents.

The best way to overcome the issues are through self-rule and shifting the centralised governing of the island way from the capital into the hands of the islanders themselves, according to Borrinjaland

“There are no benefits to us being part of the Danish Commonwealth and we need change to halt this decline,” Borrinjaland said, pointing to Malta and Singapore as examples of small nations that have managed to create sustainable societies.

But the island in the Baltic Sea probably won’t be becoming independent anytime soon. While the Scottish vote looks set to go down to the wire 16 hours from now, Bornholms Selvstyre Parti only attracted 190 votes in the most recent local council elections in 2013.

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