NATO Secretary General highlights Iceland´s position in transatlantic safety

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited Iceland on Thursday (27 November 2025) for conferences with Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir and Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir. 

During the go to, the Secretary General visited Keflavík Air Base and flew by helicopter over the Grindavík lava obstacles – buildings constructed to safeguard the city and close by essential infrastructure from repeated volcanic exercise.

“Volcanic eruptions have pressured the folks of Grindavík to go away their houses time and again. The lava obstacles constructed to guard the city and important infrastructure are spectacular,“ stated the Secretary General. He added that Iceland has right here proven that dedication, ingenuity and resilience matter.

Secretary General Rutte thanked Iceland for its robust contributions to NATO, welcoming the nation´s first formal defence coverage, introduced 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,” he stated. “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 additionally underlined Iceland´s continued help to Ukraine. Iceland has contributed greater than 8 million euros to the Prioritized Ukraine Requirement List (PURL), and is supporting the Danish defence trade mannequin and the Czech Ammunition Initiative. Iceland has additional funded prosthetics for wounded in Ukrainians, and help 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 stated. 

This was Mr Rutte´s first go to to Iceland since taking workplace as NATO Secretary General in October final 12 months.