Foreign relations of Iceland

Iceland established its own Foreign Service in April 1940[1] when Denmark became occupied by Nazi Germany and ties between the two countries were severed.

[2] Iceland hosted the historic 1986 Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Reykjavík, which set the stage for the end of the Cold War.

That year, Iceland established a separate commission – along with Norway, Greenland and the Faroe Islands – for the conservation, management, and study of marine mammals.

[7] 25 states delivered a formal diplomatic protest to the Icelandic government on 1 November concerning resumed commercial whaling.

[8] Iceland was the first country to recognize the regained independence of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan from the USSR in 1990–1991.

Iceland was given the opportunity to join the League of Nations in 1920, but opted not to, primarily due to limited administrative resources.

[17] Negotiations continue between the four countries in the hope of making a joint proposal to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf by May 2009.

[citation needed] Following the collapse of Icesave sparking the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis, the U.K. and the Netherlands offered to insure the deposits of the bank's customers.

Iceland also participates in the Schengen Area (as well as relevant police and judicial cooperation) and has non-voting representation in some EU agencies.

[20] After an agreement is concluded, the accession treaty must be ratified by every EU state and be subject to a national referendum in Iceland.

[21] Since the application was submitted, popular support has declined and contentious issues around Icelandic fisheries may derail negotiations.

However the Icelandic government is confident an agreement can be reached based on the flexibility shown by the EU in its previous negotiations with Norway.

At the time, the U.S. Air Force committed itself to maintaining four to six interceptors at the Keflavík base, supported by a helicopter rescue squad.

The Icelandic foreign service grew slowly (both in terms of missions and staff) in the post-WWII period, but increased rapidly after the mid-1990s.

[59] On 29 November 2011, the parliament of Iceland passed a resolution that authorized the government to officially recognize the state of Palestine within the 1967 borders.

Both countries share common membership of the Atlantic co-operation pact,[112] Council of Europe, Joint Expeditionary Force, NATO, OECD, OSCE, and the World Trade Organization.