NATO Secretary General Highlights Iceland´s Role in Transatlantic Security.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited Iceland on Thursday (27 November 2025) for meetings with Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir and Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir. This was Mr Rutte´s first visit to Iceland since taking office as NATO Secretary General in October last year.

During the visit, the Secretary General visited Keflavik Air Base and flew by helicopter over the Grindavík lava barriers, structures those which are built to safeguard the town and nearby critical infrastructure from repeated volcanic activity.

“Volcanic eruptions have forced the people of Grindavík to leave their homes again and again. The lava barriers built to protect the town and critical infrastructure are impressive“, said the Secretary General. He added that Iceland has here shown that commitment, ingenuity and resilience matter. Secretary General Rutte has thanked Iceland for its strong contributions to NATO, welcoming the country’s first formal defence policy, presented to parliament earlier this month.

“Your strategic position underpins security for North America and Europe, at sea, below the surface, and in the air above. You operate critical air defence and surveillance systems as part of NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence; and you provide facilities, infrastructure and host nation support at Keflavik for regular Air Policing”.

He also underlined Iceland´s continued support to Ukraine. Iceland has contributed more than 8 million euros to the Prioritized Ukraine Requirement List (PURL), and is supporting the Danish defence industry model and the Czech Ammunition Initiative. Iceland has further funded prosthetics for wounded in Ukrainians, and support demining efforts with Lithuania.

“These are concrete contributions that save lives and strengthen Ukraine´s defence and also send a clear signal to Moscow that Allies stand with Ukraine”, he said.

In his formal address, the Secretary General Mark Rutte advocated his optimism about Iceland’s diplomacy;

“Since you took office, it is now almost a year ago, I think, in December, you have made Iceland’s continued commitment to NATO clear. Very clear. And your government has ambitious plans

to take the hard, but I believe also the necessary, decisions required to increase

defence and security related spending, and for this, I commend you. For a nation

without armed forces, this is no small task. But Iceland has always punched above its weight.

Believe me, I remember very well when the Icelandic national football team

beat the Netherlands in Amsterdam in 2015.

I also welcome your leadership, Kristrún, on Iceland’s first formal policy on defence issues,

which was presented to the parliament earlier this month,

and this will further strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defence.

Iceland, as we know, is a founding member of our Alliance. Your strategic position underpins security for North America and Europe at sea, below the surface, and in the air above. You operate critical air defence and surveillance systems as part of NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence.  And you provide facilities, infrastructure, and host nation support at Keflavik for regular air policing. And indeed, that was a very impressive visit.

Your leadership on resilience and civil preparedness is second to none. Earlier today, indeed, with Foreign Minister Gunnarsdóttir, I flew over the Southern peninsula where repeated volcanic eruptions have forced the people of Grindavík to leave their homes again and again. The lava barriers built to protect the town and critical infrastructure are impressive and very practical. So, Iceland has also here shown that commitment, ingenuity and resilience, and that combination of commitment, ingenuity and resilience, that they matter.

We are now halfway between the Summit in The Hague, where we saw each other last, and our next Summit in Ankara. And our priorities are clear: to invest more in defence and security, to strengthen our defence industrial base, and to sustain our unwavering support to Ukraine against Russia’s

ongoing war of aggression. Russia has paid a high price for marginal gains, and Ukraine continues

to defend itself with courage. There is tremendous renewed energy around the peace process.

 And for that, I want to commend US President Trump.

I also want to commend the people of Iceland. Iceland is a staunch supporter of Ukraine indeed, including through your recent contribution of more than €8 million to PURL, the NATO-led effort

 to support critical munitions to Ukraine. You have funded prosthetics for the wounded,

supported demining initiatives with Lithuania, and contributed to procurement

 through the Danish defence industry model and the Czech ammunition initiative.

And these are concrete contributions that save lives and strengthen Ukraine’s defence and also send a clear signal to Moscow that Allies stand with Ukraine.

I was told earlier of the Icelandic poet Hulda, who wrote during the Second World War about Iceland as the land far from the world’s battlefields. It is a beautiful poem that captured Iceland’s unique place in the world at that time. Today, we know there is no periphery, but the spirit she expressed still matters. Resilient people, bound by sea and sky, united in the pursuit of peace. From Reykjavík to The Hague, my home city, from the High North to the Black Sea, every Ally is now a frontline state in the contest for our security and our values”.

When one of the media representative had asked the Secretary General about, NATO’s current position as a political Alliance not only of military security, but of shared democratic values, and how does NATO see its role evolving in the area when democratic systems, including some within NATO, appear to be under increasing strain; the Secretary General had candidly responded that,

“indeed, still, till today, from the start in 1949 up to and including today, this is an Alliance of democracies of shared value, and we will always have our debates, even without,

within our countries, from the centre left to the centre right, from the left to the right,

and that’s exactly how it should play out. We have our free and independent media

who will keep it sharp. The parliaments, our societies can organise demonstrations.

And I can assure you, my country, I’m not sure here, but in The Hague and Amsterdam,

they take place. So that’s still the case. That has not changed over those more than 75 years”.

Another media personnel when asked the Secretary General about his visit to the security area at Keflavik, and the importance of that for the NATO activities and the Alliance, Mr. Mark Rutte explained:

“The latest Russian missiles can reach every part of NATO territory with within a very limited time span, and what Iceland is doing in terms of, indeed, surveillance, air defence, etc, making sure

that this country is hosting all the nations organising this is crucial.

But also, the High North, the Arctic, because there are 07 countries in the Arctic, member of NATO, Allies within NATO, and only one is not an Ally in NATO or not applying for membership, and that’s Russia. And there is a ninth country, China, which is geographically not in the High North,

but it’s very active here, becoming more and more active. So, the seven – Canada, US, Iceland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, are working together within NATO, and NATO, particularly,

I think, over the last 12 to 18 months, becoming more and more involved with these activities

so that we can help to coordinate, and being the platform to organise this is crucial.

Because sea lanes are opening up and we see how our adversaries are trying to make trying to make use of this and we discussed the visit of Jonas Støre, the Norwegian Prime Minister, to the White House, where he showed that map to President Trump saying, hey, here you have these huge submarine bases in Russia. They are not there to attack Norway. They are there to ultimately attack the United States. So, it is a joint interest effort, and this is one of the reasons why it is so crucial that NATO is not only European, that it is transatlantic. Because the Atlantic, and the Arctic, and Europe – those three being safe means that we live in prosperity and can make sure that our values are protected and our people, but also United States and Canada”.

Team Maverick…