Recording: President of Iceland on the Arctic and High North Security
His Excellency Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, President of Iceland, provided opening remarks at a half day event at RUSI, in association with the Embassy of Iceland, on the history and strategic relevance of Iceland and the Arctic to geopolitics today.
Due to its strategic location in the High North, Iceland played an important role in both the Second World War and Cold War. British forces occupied Iceland on 10 May 1940, on the day Winston Churchill became wartime Prime Minister. They were mostly replaced by United States forces in 1941, following agreement between Reykjavík and Washington. US forces were subsequently stationed in Iceland through the Cold War, as the country was a prime geographical location for surveillance of the Soviet Fleet in the North Atlantic. Following Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as well as changing circumstances in the region due to climate change, security in the High North has once again regained prominence.
This half-day event, in association with the Embassy of Iceland, explored the history and strategic relevance of Iceland and the Arctic to geopolitics today.