00:00The first question from Ruf. In light of the deal that the U.S., Greenland and Denmark made on Greenland
00:09defenses, which included build up like in two more military bases in Greenland, are there any plans for the U
00:18.S. government to have further build up here in Iceland,
00:24whether it's military base or more surveillance or anything of that sort, are you increasing your presence in Iceland?
00:36Yeah.
00:36And the second question on behalf of Radio Saga, do you feel that Iceland poses a direct military threat from
00:48Russia?
00:48And if so, what makes Iceland vulnerable in that area?
00:55And if I may add a short yes or no question, what is your position on NATO membership of Ukraine?
01:02Do you think Ukraine should be a member of NATO?
01:04Well, just on your third point, there's no yes or no answer to that other than to say that Ukraine
01:09right now, NATO membership, as you know, is not on the table as we speak,
01:13because there's obviously a consensus process that has to happen in order for that unanimity process that has to happen.
01:19Or now we're simply focused, when it comes to Ukraine, on the ending of this conflict, if that's possible.
01:24And it's unfortunate the amount of loss of life.
01:27We've been clear that if there's a role we can play in bringing that war to an end, we want
01:30to play a constructive role.
01:31We're obviously watching the trend lines there and seeing that's not the direction that it's headed right now.
01:36On your first question, which has to do, well, I forgot your first question, because you guys, you're cheating.
01:42You said it was one question and you got three, so now I've got to write these down.
01:45Military build.
01:46Oh, military build.
01:47Well, look, we would never do anything without cooperating with officials here about what's available.
01:51I think there's a willingness to do more together.
01:53And what Iceland contributes really is infrastructure and technology and the ability to have surveillance and opportunity or domain awareness.
02:01And it wouldn't be anything new.
02:03I mean, it's already existed for a very long time.
02:05We obviously had an enduring presence here that ended in 2006, not because of anything that was going wrong,
02:10but because we shifted forces to other parts of the world where we thought there was more crisis.
02:15The reality of it is the world has changed over the last 20 years.
02:18Our focus has changed.
02:19There's a lot of focus on the Arctic.
02:20I think Iceland plays a very critical role in the defense of NATO writ large.
02:24I think Iceland and its location plays a critical role in the defense both of Europe,
02:29but also of the homeland of the United States because of geography.
02:32So we would be open to having those conversations to see what more we can do together.
02:36I know there's interest in doing more together.
02:38And obviously, if there's opportunities that make sense for both countries, it's something we would pursue.
02:43With regards to direct threats, look, at the end of the day,
02:46I think we're all concerned about what's happening in the high north and in the Arctic region,
02:50both from irregular measures, covert measures that are happening,
02:54but also threats to undersea cables, threats to shipping lanes.
02:57We're all aware of it, which is why so much attention is being paid to the Arctic region.
03:01And it's something that we have to deal with collectively, not just alone, unilaterally,
03:05but in combination with our partners and allies,
03:07which is why we've been having these regular engagements with the Arctic Seven countries.
03:11And Iceland's a key component of that in a place where we already have a history of cooperating on these
03:16matters in the past.
03:17So, yeah, I mean, there are direct threats.
03:19And those threats in the 21st century aren't just military threats.
03:21They're also economic, commercial threats that have implications on the national security of our respective countries.
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