NATO Secretary General with the Prime Minister of Iceland 🇮🇸 Kristrún Frostadóttir, 28 MAY 2025

Joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and the Prime Minister of Iceland, Kristrún Frostadóttir on 28 MAY 2025.

🗣 | NATO Secretary General:

Prime Minister Frostadóttir, dear Kristrún,
Welcome to this building, to NATO Headquarters. It is really a pleasure to see you.
Iceland is one of NATO´s twelve founding members. And for 76 years now, you have helped protect our peace, our security, and our core values: democracy, freedom, and the rule of law.
Despite not having armed forces, Iceland continues to make important contributions to our shared security.
You operate vital air defence and surveillance systems as part of NATO’s integrated Air and Missile Defence.
You provide host nation support and critical infrastructure for NATO forces – including for our regular air policing missions.
And you regularly host major exercises, such as Dynamic Mongoose – NATO’s premier anti-submarine warfare exercise.

I want to commend Iceland’s contributions to NATO’s deterrence and defence – not only on the Northern Flank, but also in the Baltic region, where you contribute experts to our Forward Land Forces.
Since 2016, you have significantly increased your defence-related spending, doubled your personnel in NATO structures, and taken important steps to strengthen defence tasks at home.
Iceland plays a unique and essential role in the High North, which is an area of increasing strategic importance.
Your geostrategic location, situational awareness, and operational expertise are vital to our collective understanding of the changing security landscape in the region.
I welcome your government’s timely decision to develop a new security and defence policy. This will further reinforce our resilience and readiness.

Today, the Prime Minister and I discussed preparations for the NATO Summit in The Hague.
This will be an important moment to drive forward NATO’s efforts to become stronger, fairer, and more lethal.
We need to increase investment, strengthen defence industry, and enhance our ability to deter and defend across all domains.
We also discussed Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine.
Iceland is a staunch supporter of Ukraine – from training military personnel and supporting demining efforts, to humanitarian support and weapons procurement.
You have provided a mobile field hospital, funded the humanitarian initiative Grain from Ukraine, and recently committed to increase your defence support to Ukraine – with an additional 14.4 million euros.
You also contribute personnel to NATO’s Security Assistance and Training mission in Wiesbaden.
This is making a real difference, and I thank you for your contributions.

Russia remains the most significant and direct threat to our security.
I know that Iceland has a proud tradition as a peaceful nation – and that makes your contributions all the more meaningful.
Because to preserve peace, we need to shift to a wartime mindset.
That’s why I value having a committed Transatlanticist like you, dear Kristrún, at the helm.
Your leadership sends a strong signal of commitment – and it strengthens our Alliance.

Dear Kristrún – thank you again for your visit, and for Iceland’s enduring commitment to our Alliance.
The floor is yours.

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