NATO Secretary General welcomes Icelandic Prime Minister to NATO Headquarters

“Iceland is one of NATO’s twelve founding members,” said the Secretary General. “For 76 years now, you have helped protect our peace, our security, and our core values: democracy, freedom, and the rule of law.”

While Iceland does not have armed forces, the Secretary General highlighted the country’s important and growing role in NATO. Iceland operates key air defence and surveillance systems as part of NATO’s integrated Air and Missile Defence, provides host nation support and infrastructure for Allied air policing, and regularly hosts major exercises such as NATO´s premier anti-submarine warfare exercise, Dynamic Mongoose.

“Iceland plays a unique and essential role in the High North,” said Mr Rutte, noting the importance of Iceland’s geostrategic location to better understand the evolving security environment in that area. He welcomed the Icelandic government’s decision to develop a new national security and defence policy, calling it a timely step to “further reinforce our resilience and readiness.”

On the upcoming NATO Summit in The Hague, the Secretary General indicated it “will be an important moment to drive forward NATO’s efforts to become stronger, fairer, and more lethal”.

Mr Rutte thanked Prime Minister Frostadóttir for Iceland’s continued support to Ukraine, from training military personnel and supporting demining efforts, to humanitarian support and weapons procurement. Iceland recently pledged an additional 14.4 million euros in defence support to Ukraine, alongside contributions to the “Grain from Ukraine” initiative and the donation of a mobile field hospital. Iceland also contributes personnel to NATO’s Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine command in Wiesbaden (NSATU).

“I know that Iceland has a proud tradition as a peaceful nation – and that makes your contributions all the more meaningful,” Mr Rutte said. “Because to preserve peace, we need to shift to a wartime mindset.”