Dear Prime Minister,

Dear Kristrún,

Thank you for your warm welcome to Iceland. It has been a remarkable day flying over the highlands and glaciers of your beautiful country. Beyond Icelands stunning scenery, your preparedness mindset stands out. With a unique geostrategic position, Iceland has crafted an exceptional approach to security, resilience, and foresight. Youve learned to live with risk and manage it effectively. My visit to Grindavík showcased your risk management and adaptability, and meeting the Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue was enlightening regarding their capabilities. Congratulations on that. In Iceland, preparedness is not merely a policy; it is a way of life. Europe can learn a great deal from Iceland in this regard.

This brings me to my first point: defense and security. Iceland plays a vital and strategic role in NATOs Arctic and North Atlantic posture. You are a strong and reliable Ally, as I witnessed at Keflavík Air Base. Your preparedness model is built on NATO membership and a bilateral agreement with the United States. We are now enhancing your security framework by initiating talks for a Security and Defence Partnership Agreement, which I believe we will finalize in a few weeks or months. This partnership will integrate Iceland into Europes broader Security and Defence network, which already includes 8 partners such as Norway, the UK, and Canada. You will also gain access to SAFE, our EUR 150 billion joint defense procurement program, which may interest you. This new partnership will enable closer cooperation on hybrid threats, civil protection, and cybersecurity, among other areas.

My second point addresses our shared region: the Arctic. I observed today that the ice is melting, and new realities are emerging. In Icelands vicinity, Russia and China are increasing their economic activities and strategic presence. Europe must adapt to these developments. Therefore, we will review our Arctic Strategy to ensure it meets the challenges of our time. It is crucial for us to engage closely with you, as we can learn much from your unique geostrategic position and experiences in the Arctic. We aim to collaborate with you to enhance the protection of critical infrastructure, including subsea cables and power grids. Today’s discussions highlighted your preparations against potential attacks on these infrastructures. We will also work together on cyber resilience and secure communications. I am pleased that we have finalized Icelands participation in the EUs Governmental Satellite Communication program – Govsatcom – and IRIS² – our space-based connectivity system, which is of significant importance to you.

My third point concerns climate change. This is the defining challenge of our time, and it is highly visible here in Iceland, where glaciers are losing billions of tonnes of ice annually, affecting nature significantly. Your goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2040 is an essential and commendable signal. Europe is also on a path to climate neutrality by 2050, and we have proposed our climate target for 2040 earlier this month. Our ambitions align, which is why we agreed to intensify our climate cooperation beyond 2030. Specifically, we will work closely to achieve the Paris Agreement targets and the ambitions of future COPs.

Lastly, I want to mention fisheries. We recently reached an important milestone with a new Memorandum of Understanding on fisheries and ocean affairs between Iceland and the EU, signed this week. This will enhance our cooperation on fisheries governance and the biodiversity of our shared ocean resources.

It has been a full day, and it is not over yet. Thank you very much for hosting me and for the impression you have given me of Iceland.