"The level of surveillance is increasing and will increase even more"
The minister of Foreign Affairs Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörð Gylfadóttir. mbl.is/Kristinn Magnússon
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörð Gylfadóttir, says it is important that Iceland is better equipped in terms of defense as a result of the disclosure of alleged Russian espionage in the Arctic by Nordic state television stations.
The stations this week aired the first episode of the documentary series Shadow Wars. It accuses the Russian government of planning sabotage of North Sea power infrastructure and fiber optics in the event of a confrontation between Russia and the West. Russia is said to be spying on this infrastructure with the help of warships and ships reported to be carrying out scientific research.
Reasons for further surveillance
Gylfadóttir tells mbl.is that the spying warrants further surveillance around Iceland, referring to the fact that the US has already been stepping up surveillance around Iceland since 2014, when Russia seized the Crimean peninsula. In addition, she says, the government’s new decision to allow US surveillance submarines to come up here in itself increases surveillance.
“Until now, [US patrol submarines] have had to sail to Norway to stock up, but now they will be able to do so here,” Þórdís says.
"As a result, the level of surveillance is increasing and will increase even more."
"Better equipped for changing times"
Danish officials, including the Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs, have described how they would like to respond to this threat, including through increased funding for defense. Gylfadóttir says that the government has recently been taking a number of measures in relation to defense, including that increased funds would be allocated to “defense-related projects,” according to a new financial plan that is now before parliament.
Gylfadóttir says that Iceland’s “general ability” on defense matters depends on the country’s participation within the Atlantic Alliance, but also on the basis of Iceland’s bilateral defense agreement with the United States.
“However, we are permitting investments in the Keflavík area,” Gylfadóttir says, referring to the US investments in stock storage, for example, which amount to around ISK 15-20 billion.
“But we are now working on getting through the financial plan, which is now before us in Parliament, to make provision for additional funds for defence-related projects just to be better equipped in changing times,” the minister says.
No Icelandic Army any time soon
Gylfadóttir says that the Icelandic government has the same discipline as the other Nordic countries, but that their arrangements are different, “so the response is therefore different, as we don’t have the army or other such contingent that is in Scandinavia.”
She also says that Iceland has recently been more actively involved in all work within the Atlantic Alliance, particularly on the defence side and including military politics.
“But this news does not change our assessment that we are not looking to establish an Icelandic army,” the minister concludes.
