{"id":3292,"date":"2025-07-19T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T22:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/?p=3292"},"modified":"2025-08-03T19:53:01","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T17:53:01","slug":"arctic-unity-thrilled-by-iceland-eu-breakthrough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/2025\/07\/19\/arctic-unity-thrilled-by-iceland-eu-breakthrough\/","title":{"rendered":"Arctic Unity Thrilled by Iceland-EU Breakthrough"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the latest move underscoring growing European attention to Arctic security<\/a>, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Iceland Thursday for high-level talks with Prime Minister Kristr\u00fan Frostad\u00f3ttir and Foreign Minister \u00deorger\u00f0ur Katr\u00edn Gunnarsd\u00f3ttir.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The visit focused on strengthening cooperation in security and defense \u2014 including in the Arctic \u2014 as Europe faces continued pressure from everything from climate, to the Ukraine war, to the U.S administration\u2019s ongoing rhetoric about taking over Greenland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal of this week\u2019s meeting was to discuss a security and defence cooperation declaration between Iceland and the EU that could be concluded by the end of the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIceland and the EU already have good cooperation in most of these areas, but the cooperation declaration will further strengthen the cooperation and put it into more concrete terms,\u201d Frostad\u00f3ttir said in a statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northern security and defence top concerns\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Meeting at the strategically located Keflav\u00edk security zone, von der Leyen and Icelandic leaders discussed boosting coordination on Arctic affairs, maritime security, infrastructure resilience, and Iceland\u2019s potential involvement in EU defense projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EU has already concluded eight similar agreements with other partner countries, including Canada, which, like Iceland, is an Arctic nation and NATO member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis declaration will increase the visibility of the cooperation and underline that Iceland is among the EU\u2019s closest partners in the field of security and defence,\u201d Frostad\u00f3ttir said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is also part of increasing Iceland\u2019s capacity to shoulder burdens within the Atlantic Alliance and therefore an important step in building our own resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Search and rescue in Iceland\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Prime Minister Kristr\u00fan Frostad\u00f3ttir, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Foreign Minister \u00deorger\u00f0ur Katr\u00edn Gunnarsd\u00f3ttir look at the earthquake relief map in Grindav\u00edk. (Government of Iceland)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Von der Leyen also toured the country\u2019s highlands with the Icelandic Coast Guard and civil protection teams, to get insight into the complex environment that response teams must navigate when battling fires on the Reykjanes Peninsula or responding to emergencies in areas like Grindav\u00edk, which have faced repeated natural disasters in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The visit also marked the  launch of a review of Iceland\u2019s trade terms with the EU. Foreign Minister Gunnarsd\u00f3ttir said marine products were a longstanding priority for Iceland\u2019s fishing-dependent economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is certainly a milestone for us to embark on this review, as we have long been seeking easier market access for marine products to the EU on a permanent basis, instead of temporary duty-free quotas as are currently negotiated at regular intervals,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iceland\u2019s Minister of Industry Hanna Katr\u00edn Fri\u00f0riksson also signed a declaration this week to boost cooperation with the EU on fisheries and marine issues. Talks are underway to explore a bilateral agreement on fishing rights \u2014 mirroring similar arrangements Iceland has with Greenland, Norway, and the Faroe Islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing increasing worries over undersea cable security\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The leaders also discussed Iceland\u2019s participation in the EU\u2019s secure satellite communications initiative, something the island nation is pushing for to reduce their reliance on the fragile undersea cables they rely on for global connectivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Prime Minister Kristr\u00fan Frostad\u00f3ttir and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, at a press conference in the security area at Keflav\u00edk Airport. (Government of Iceland)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis collaborative project is extremely urgent for us Icelanders, who are committed to ensuring the security of our submarine cables,\u201d Frostad\u00f3ttir said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf they are disrupted, it is essential for the functioning of the national economy to ensure permanent access to fast, secure and cost-effective satellite communications worldwide. This plan increases our communication channels with the outside world and strengthens telecommunications security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Von der Leyen also announced a forthcoming review of the EU\u2019s Arctic policy and stressed Brussels\u2019 desire to work more closely with Reykjavik on environmental and regional priorities beyond 2030.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The visit focused on strengthening cooperation in security and defense \u2014 including in the Arctic \u2014 as Europe faces continued pressure from everything from climate, to the Ukraine war, to the U.S administration\u2019s ongoing rhetoric about taking over Greenland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"yes","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cooperation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3292"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3332,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3292\/revisions\/3332"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}