This week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is visiting Iceland on the invitation of Icelandic Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir. They are discussing security as well as economic issues. This development comes in the context of the US. - Denmark -Greenland security deal from two weeks ago.  

Source: Government of Iceland / Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Marko Rubio, US Secretary of State, arrived in Iceland yesterday, and today had a meeting with the country’s Foreign Minister, Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, to discuss security and economic issues. “Iceland is a good friend of the United States,” Rubio told the press before boarding the plane yesterday. During the press conference after the meeting, Rubio emphasized investment opportunities, as well as pointing out the fact that increased defense cooperation was nothing new between Iceland and the US, as the US had had a military presence in the country until 2006. 

Historical context

Iceland and the United States have a long history of defence cooperation. Iceland became a founding member of NATO in 1949, and just two years later the two countries signed a bilateral Defence Agreement that gave the United States an important role in the defence of Iceland.

For decades, this relationship was closely linked to the U.S. military presence at Keflavík. American forces remained there until 2006, when the permanent military presence ended and Naval Air Station Keflavík was closed. This did not, however, bring defence cooperation between the two countries to an end. The 1951 Defence Agreement remained in force, and Iceland and the United States continued to work together through NATO exercises, air surveillance, maritime security and other defence activities.

The relationship has therefore changed over time, moving away from a permanent U.S. military presence while maintaining close security cooperation.

Recent Developments

The visit comes two weeks after the US signed a deal with Denmark and Greenland regarding security in Greenland.  

Map showing key U.S. and Danish defence locations in Greenland, including Pituffik Space Base, Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig. Source: Arctic Portal

The US deal with Greenland and Denmark names Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland and Mestersvig in eastern Greenland as future locations for US defense areas. It also allows the United States to modernize and expand its activities at the existing Pituffik Space Base in north-western Greenland.  

Rubio said during the press conference, “Iceland sits in the middle.” Iceland holds a strategic position within the North Atlantic, and is in a convenient position to supply the new US base in Mestervig from. Iceland and Greenland also share the Search and Rescue area of the Greenland Strait, with Iceland’s responsibility reaching nearly to the coast of Greenland due to the coast being uninhabited and covered in ice.  

This map shows International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (IMO - Polar Code) and Search and Rescue (SAR) delimitation in the Northern Circumpolar Region. Source: Arctic Portal

The deal came after US President’s Donald Trump’s many remarks and threats to buy or annex Greenland. The main objectives are to “facilitate the ability of the Parties to take any measures necessary or appropriate to carry out expeditiously their respective and joint responsibilities in Greenland, including to defend the North Atlantic Treaty area, Greenland, and the American continent, while respecting the interests of and providing benefits for the Greenlandic society.”  

Sources: AFP, mbl.is, France24, Reuters, U.S. Department of State, Government of Iceland.

See the US-Denmark-Greenland agreement in our library