Isolated in the immensity of the Atlantic Ocean, with a population of just 390,000 inhabitants and integrated in NATO but without its own army, Iceland seeks grown on a geopolitical board in which threats are multiplied. The United States has openly expressed its intention to appropriate neighboring Groenland, and the Arctic Circle, which brushes the country at its north end, is the new scenario coveted by the great powers. In that context, the new Icelandic government, in office for just three months, has reactivated an old claim that has been hibernated in recent years: adherence to the European Union. “We can be a small advancement against other threats, already come from China, Russia or other countries,” said the Icelandic Minister of Foreign Affairs, Thorgerdur Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, last week during the official visit he made to Spain.
Gunnarsdóttir (Reykiavik, 59 years old), leader of the liberals, spoke with El País last Friday, a couple of hours after lunch, at the Palacio de Viana in Madrid, and before attending a meeting with the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, at the Torrejón Air Base of Ardoz. During the half hour that the interview lasted, Gunnarsdóttir repeatedly mentioned the words “security” and “defense.” And he stressed that Iceland and Spain think similarly in human rights. “At this time, in which it is evident that he is trying to throw down as many rights, it is important that there are nations like ours who speak high and expose their opinion,” said the minister, whose party, the reformist liberal, of the right center, emerged in 2016 as a split of the conservative party of Independence.
The Nordic country plans to open its first embassy in Spain before summer ends. “It was very necessary. Apart from the commercial, social and cultural exchanges, I hope we are also together in the European Union,” says Gunnarsdóttir, referring to an idea: that of the possible accession to the twenty -seven block, which has been around its political career for decades.
In July 2009 ,. But in December 2013 the Government suspended adhesion negotiations, and in March 2015 the country requested to stop being a candidate. A recent survey of the Próentm democopic company indicates that 45% of Icelanders are in favor of adhesion, while 35% oppose. According to a government agreement, this will convene a referendum to consult whether to start negotiations not later than 2027.
According to Gunnarsdóttir, “it doesn’t need much” to pave the way to adhesion, especially because Iceland cooperates closely with the EU as a member of the European Economic Space (EEE). Its belonging to the Schengen space and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) are two other elements in favor. “Without a doubt, the most delicate will be to reach an agreement in agriculture and fishing management,” he emphasizes.
Aware of the crucial role that Iceland plays in the world geopolitics for its location in the North Atlantic – with the crossing the country at its northernmost point -, the minister does not hesitate to refer to “the expansion of the E -economic and defensive security zone itself” when asked about the changes that would imply the integration of her country into the community club. It could promote a military use of the island that, without a doubt, would renew the role of the Nordic country within NATO – it is the only member without its own army. It would be, he says, of a “small advanced post” in the protection of Europe against the threats of China, Russia “or other countries.”
In terms of security, the point of view of the Icelandic executive is also put in with the Faroe, Ireland, Scotland, Denmark, Greenland and New Scotland (Canada) islands. They all play a key role in telecommunications, energy, finance and health care of the European Island. “We have to be very attentive to this underwater infrastructure. If international law is not respected, then the Icelanders will be with the water around the neck, speaking in silver,” warns the president. Since the large -scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, a series of incidents in different parts of the infrastructure that run through the European seabed, especially in the Baltic, have triggered alarms.
The new Icelandic coalition government, which has been exercised since December 2024, has established as a priority to prepare, in collaboration with all parties of Parliament, a security and defense policy. “We want to send a clear message to the rest of the world: we are taking these issues seriously,” says the Foreign Minister after wearing some of the measures they plan to implement, among which the implementation of a surveillance submarine not manned in cooperation with the Coast Guard of Iceland to reinforce the surveillance of submarine cables and ports is included. “In case of fire, we all need firefighters,” he says.
Asked by, in full tension between the neighboring island and the US, Gunnarsdóttir does not hesitate to qualify it, such as its Danish colleagues, “unacceptable.” After emphasizing that the relations between Iceland and the United States “have always been good,” sentence: “Both the Danes and the Greenlanders are willing to dialogue, negotiate and cooperate. I am totally against a unilateral aggression. It is better than nations that so far have fought for freedom to be associated and cooperate.”
