On Thursday 17 July, Iceland’s Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir announced that she had agreed with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to launch negotiations on a security and defence partnership between the EU and her country.
“We hope to conclude this partnership by the end of the year”, added the minister during a press briefing at Keflavík air base. According to Ms von der Leyen, this will even be possible “within a few weeks or months“. “It is very important for us to show that we can have cooperation on critical infrastructure, civil protection, any sort of dual use defence investment, and this also includes hybrid and cyber threats”, explained Ms Frostadóttir. Iceland, a member of NATO, has no army.
The minister also announced the conclusion of negotiations on Iceland’s participation in the EU’s secure connectivity programme, and that her country was launching a comprehensive review of trade terms. “We are obviously part of the European Economic Area, but we do not yet have full access to the market for certain products, which imposes customs duties and trade barriers on us”, explained Ms Frostadóttir, citing the access of fish, seafood and other such products to the EU single market. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)