Russia warns Faroe Islands of potential retaliation over sanctions related to alleged spy ships

MOSCOW, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Russia is considering retaliatory measures against the Faroe Islands after the Faroese parliament passed a law giving the government the authority to bar Russian fishing companies from its waters, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

The Faroese public broadcaster said on Wednesday that parliament had passed a law authorising the foreign minister to bar two big Russian companies, Norebo and Murman Seafood, from fishing in Faroese waters or docking in Faroese harbours.

The European Union, Norway have previously taken similar action, accusing the two companies of carrying out state-backed espionage activities in European waters, a charge the two companies have rejected as false.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that the self-governing archipelago's "new unfriendly actions" called into question the commitment of the Faroe Islands to a fisheries agreement signed with the Soviet Union in 1977.

The agreement, now in force with Russia, covers fishing quotas. The Faroe Islands export fish to Russia and, in return for letting Russian ships fish in its waters, have access to cod stocks in the Barents Sea.

The Faroese actions had forced "the Russian side to consider introducing appropriate retaliatory measures," Zakharova told reporters.

Despite tightening access to its ports in 2023, Russian fishing boats operating under the long-standing bilateral agreement have still been allowed to dock in Faroese ports and land their catches inside Faroese waters.

(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov in Moscow and by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen in Copenhagen; editing by Guy Faulconbridge/Andrew Osborn)