Defense
Iceland has no defense of its own. To see related acronyms about this country, please check ABBREVIATIONFINDER where you can see that ISL stands for Iceland. However, for coastal
and air surveillance there is a domestic surveillance force.
The country's defense is based on NATO membership since
1949. In 1951, Iceland signed a bilateral agreement with the
United States. The agreement with the United States meant
that the United States pledged to defend Iceland in the
event of war and Iceland left ground for an American air
base, the Keflavik base.
Until 2006, there were US military forces at the Keflavik
base. Formally, the agreement with the United States still
applies (2019). In 2007, Iceland signed a new military
agreement, this time with Norway which, in cooperation with
NATO, promised to protect Iceland. In 2016, Iceland and the
US entered into an agreement that US forces could be
re-located in Iceland.
Iceland's defense overview
Iceland has no military forces. The semi-military
coastguard, under the Ministry of Justice, has a staff of
250, three armed patrol ships, one aid vessel, one aircraft
and two helicopters (IISS, 2018)
The country is one of the original members of NATO, and
following a US-Icelandic defense pact from 1951, the United
States had military forces at the Keflavík base until 2006.
In 2007, Norway and Iceland signed an agreement on security,
defense, emergency and rescue cooperation. Iceland also has
a crisis force of 100 men, taken from the police and
coastguard, which can be deployed in international
peacekeeping operations under the auspices of the UN or
NATO.
Cold War
For fear of overfishing and because of the importance of
this industry to the Icelandic economy, in 1964 Reykjavik
expanded its fishing limit to 12 nautical miles and in 1972
to 50 nautical miles. This triggered the so-called cod
war with Britain sending warships to protect its
fishing fleet. The dispute was annexed in 1973 with a
fishing agreement. In October 75, Iceland declared that the
limit would be extended to 200 nautical miles, referring to
environmental protection and the protection of its own
economic interests. When the 1973 agreement expired at the
same time and when it was not possible to enter into a new
agreement, the Icelandic move triggered the third and
fiercest cod war.In February 76, Iceland
temporarily cut off diplomatic relations with Britain. It
was the first time that diplomatic relations between two
NATO members had been severed. Only in June could an
agreement be made, and in December the English fishing
trawlers withdrew from Icelandic waters. In 79, Iceland
reaffirmed its territorial right over the 200 nautical mile
fishing limit.
Economic crisis
In 1983, the government adopted a harsh economic crisis
package aimed primarily at reducing inflation. The trade
union movement had agreed to accept the social costs
associated with the intervention, and inflation fell from
130% at the beginning of the year to 27%.
In May 85, Parliament passed an opinion declaring Iceland
a nuclear weapons free zone. Thus, the introduction of
nuclear weapons into the country was prohibited. The country
was later selected to host the October 86 summit between US
President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Gov. Mihail Gorbachov.
In June 1988, the female president of Iceland, Vigdis
Finnbogadóttir, won the election for the third time and
began a new four-year term. She was supported by the main
parties and gained over 90% of the vote, despite the fact
that she had a female counterpart this time. In September,
Steingrímur Hermannsson assumed the post of prime minister
at the head of a center-left government consisting of the
Social Democracy and the People's Alliance. The new
government pledged to implement an economic crisis package
to address the towering inflation and recession of
devaluations of the Icelandic krone.
As a result of increasing international pressure, with
the Greenpeace environmental organization demanding
international boycott of Icelandic products, in August 89
the Reykjavik government decided to suspend the capture of
whales for scientific purposes for a two-year period. 1989
was generally financially difficult for Iceland in the same
way as its neighbors in the North Atlantic - the Faroe
Islands, Greenland and Northern Norway. This was mainly due
to an unforeseen fall in fish prices, which was apparently
due to overproduction.
As a consequence of the crisis, the trade union movement
in the 1990 collective bargaining agreement saw a decline in
real wages of 8%. The consequence was that the number of
cars in Iceland for the first time ever fell. Otherwise, the
country has the largest number of cars per year. residents
of the world. The same year, the government set up an
environment ministry and Julius Solnés was appointed
minister of environment. In the April 91 election, the
center-left government retained its absolute majority in the
Alting, with 32 out of 63 seats.
Fishing was in crisis at the beginning of the 1990's,
which was due to a reduction in the stock of a number of
species - especially the cod. This caused Iceland to impose
strict rules on foreign fishing trawlers' access to
Icelandic waters. This created problems in trade relations
with the outside world. Finally, the catch of whales whose
meat was predominantly exported to Japan was completely
banned.
Iceland was admitted into the European Economic Zone on 1
January 1993 and, together with Norway and Liechtenstein,
are the only old EFTA countries that remain outside the EU.
There is no desire in Iceland for EU membership.
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