Фростадоттир: «Мы верим в свободную торговлю»

euronews (на русском)

Фростадоттир: «Мы верим в свободную торговлю»  В эксклюзивном интервью Euronews премьер-министр Исландии Криструн Фростадоттир подтвердила свою приверженность свободной торговле, отказавшись от введения ответных тарифов против США.  ЧИТАТЬ ДАЛЕЕ : http://ru.euronews.com/2025/04/15/frostadottir-my-verim-v-svobodnuyu-torgovlyu  Подписывайтесь: Euronews можно смотреть на Dailymotion на 12 языках

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01:32We've always had a historically very good relationship with the EU.

01:36Iceland has upheld all its responsibilities when it comes to the EEA.

01:40And so just for ongoing positive association and relationship with the EU,

01:45I think it's important that the EU shows that we are truly partners in the internal market

01:51and that trade won't be affected.

01:53And you said 10% for now.

01:55I saw your finance minister, he wasn't too stressed for now.

01:58But what is Iceland's response to these tariffs?

02:00We are not going to respond with our own tariffs.

02:04I mean, we believe in free trade.

02:05We're a small economy.

02:07Our strength in that sense is more how we negotiate our ways through those tariffs,

02:14but also how we engage with other countries.

02:17So we won't be engaging in counter tariffs.

02:21Hopefully, we'll see these tariffs go down.

02:24But we're also aware of the fact that in comparison to other countries,

02:29this is a lower tariff.

02:32I will say our biggest concern now is an escalation of this

02:37because obviously most of our trade goes to Europe.

02:40We're very driven by exports and imports.

02:44And so anything that might affect prices and the way we do business

02:49is going to affect our economy directly.

02:51And tell me about the potential EU referendum

02:54that you might be having in Iceland as soon as 2027.

02:58Is this debate happening because of the geopolitical tensions of late?

03:02Not initially, I would say,

03:04though I'm sure it will affect the way we talk about this.

03:07My government decided to put the reopening of EU negotiations on the table.

03:16That's what this vote is about.

03:18Last time when we went through this process,

03:20there wasn't an initial vote asking the public

03:23whether they wanted to start this process.

03:25I think that was a mistake.

03:27I think a lot of people feel like it would have been an easier process for us domestically

03:31if we had been more in line with public opinion at the time,

03:34at least asked the nation what they feel about this.

03:38So before 2027, we want to see if the nation wants to reopen these negotiations.

03:44And I'm sure the current geopolitical situation will affect it.

03:48But I mean, my biggest concern is that we're not able to have

03:52a good debate about what it means to open the negotiations,

03:57that we will have a polarized debate about this.

04:01This is obviously, I think, what most politicians are worried about.

04:04And so hopefully we can, you know, get a balanced discussion about EU membership.

04:10And just on the nitty gritty, last time EU membership was up in Iceland,

04:14one of the biggest obstacles, if not the biggest, was your country's fishing industry.

04:17And of course, fishing rights, has that changed?

04:19And are the locals now willing to share their fleet?

04:22I think that will be our biggest concern.

04:26That's also my biggest concern.

04:27And so I think it's important that we get to a stage that if we open up these negotiations,

04:33that we start off with the difficult discussions first.

04:36We left sort of agriculture and the fisheries to be the last chapters that were open.

04:42And I think it's important for the Icelandic people,

04:45if they decide to open these negotiations with the vote,

04:49that they see firsthand how we can negotiate through that.

04:56We're going to have to see what comes out of it at this point.

04:59But we won't know until we start the negotiations.

05:02And how will Norway feel?

05:03Will they be worried about the impact on EFTA and on the EA?

05:05I'm sure it's going to affect the Norwegians in the same way

05:11as if the Norwegians were to join the EU, it would affect us.

05:14I think everyone is aware of that.

05:17This is obviously a topic that is of discussion there.

05:20But like in Iceland, even though this is an international engagement matter,

05:25it's still a domestic issue.

05:26It's an internal matter.

05:28So it's not mine to comment on it.

05:30It's for the Norwegian prime minister and for the parliament there to decide.

05:34But one issue you could perhaps comment on is Donald Trump,

05:38the US president's various comments about poaching land from other countries.

05:42We saw just last week his vice president, J.D. Vance, over in Greenland.

05:45And Putin has hinted he might take Svalbard.

05:49They both want a piece of the Arctic Sea and you're next to it.

05:52How does that make you feel?

05:53It's concerning.

05:55I will say it's gravely concerning.

05:57We are a wholly Arctic nation.

06:00I mean, the Arctic is our home.

06:01It's not just a concept in international relations for us.

06:05It's where we live.

06:07And we have very strong ties to the Greenlandic people.

06:11So this is of grave concern.

06:13I mean, our message has been and will continue to be,

06:16you have to respect the sovereignty of nations.

06:18The future of Greenland will be decided by the Greenlandic people.

06:21They've only just now had a new government formed.

06:26And so it's very positive, I would say, to see the unity of that government because it's broad-based.

06:33This is obviously a type of talk that should not be considered respectable or okay.

06:40Small countries like Iceland, they thrive on the fact that we have international law,

06:44that borders are respected.

06:46But what about an army?

06:48You don't have an army.

06:49We don't have an army, but we are a full-fledged NATO member.

06:52We're one of the founding members of NATO.

06:54We have a bilateral defense agreement with the U.S.

06:56And so our defenses have been based on that sort of international cooperation.

07:01But it is affecting our discussions of security and defense, for sure.

07:05Well, you mentioned the bilateral relations you have with the United States.

07:09Of course, European-U.S. relations now are at a historical low.

07:13There's zero trust there.

07:14And how's that impacting you then?

07:15It's always been our message to the EU and European countries.

07:19Whatever makes EU stronger and the Europeans stronger makes it a stronger ally for the U.S.

07:25And so it's very important for us that any security engagement, any sort of change in that relationship

07:31doesn't mean that it's excluding the U.S., but that it's maybe changing the relationship between the two

07:37because Iceland really thrives on that transatlantic unity being in place.

07:42But obviously, we're aware.

07:44But it's not a place now.

07:45It's changing.

07:46It's changing, for sure.

07:47And I think that uncertainty is uncomfortable.

07:50It is uncomfortable for a lot of people.

07:53That's why we are going through this process of reviewing our security and defense policy.

07:57And as a European leader, you're spending so much time probably reacting to what President Trump said,

08:02what he tweeted when you have to run your country as well.

08:04I wasn't expecting to be this much in the international sphere.

08:10When I ran, I mean, I ran on pure social democratic policies, welfare, housing, economy.

08:17I ran on sort of a domestic focus.

08:20But now we're seeing the international politics sort of come into our arms.

08:25And it's just something you have to engage with when you're in this job.

08:28I ran on a platform that had direct talks with people instead of just on social media.

08:35We did trips around the country.

08:36We did open meetings.

08:38The same has to happen with international relations.

08:41It can't just be something that happens in bureaucratic institutions abroad, away from us.

08:45It has to be in the public domain as well.

08:48And that's going to be the biggest challenge, making security in Iceland a concrete matter for the everyday household.

08:56And that's what we're going through right now.

08:58And another topic did you run on perhaps as well, climate change, global warming.

09:01It could change the Arctic as we know it.

09:03It could change the Arctic, definitely.

09:05It also creates, interestingly, these economic opportunities as well.

09:11In the north of Iceland, we see mineral opportunities in Greenland.

09:17We see shipping routes coming up.

09:19But we're also worried for our own economy when it comes to the fisheries, when it comes to changing of the ocean.

09:27So this is something that's going to be very important for us.

09:30Well, while you're in town, actually, this week, the EU-Ukraine Association meeting is taking place

09:35with the Prime Minister, Denis Shemel, in town.

09:38How is the war in Ukraine impacting you?

09:41It's raised security concerns in Iceland.

09:46Even though Ukraine is geographically further from us than maybe mainland Europe,

09:53I do think it's made Icelanders aware of the fact that this security umbrella or this peaceful umbrella

10:02that we've been living under over the past few decades, it isn't a given.

10:06We've also had sort of muted security discussions in Iceland over the past few decades, I would say.

10:14The American military left in 2005, 2006, and there hasn't been an open discussion about security threats in Iceland for a long time.

10:22And now all of a sudden we're seeing this in our backyard.

10:24So obviously our support is fully with the Ukrainian people.

10:28We've had donations going there both on military aid and humanitarian aid.

10:35But it's also changing the security landscape and it's something that we have to push forward with.

10:41Would you feel safer inside the European Union?

10:44So we feel safe where we are right now.

10:47I wouldn't consider EU discussions or EU accessions as driven by security in and of itself.

10:54I've often had this question, especially because we saw Sweden and Finland joining NATO sort of on the back of these security concerns.

11:02But NATO is a security alliance, right? It's a it's a defense alliance.

11:07The EU isn't a defense alliance in and of itself, even though it's building itself up.

11:13We should join the EU as part of a broader picture.

11:17I don't want to drive our EU accession talks based on fear.

11:21I don't want it based on this is the only possibility we have.

11:24This is the only way forward for Iceland.

11:27This is the only way to progress.

11:28I think that's going to lead to a polarizing debate.

11:31I think it's more important to you to look at EU membership as a broad spectrum, culture, economy, finances, you know, where do we belong?

11:42Where do we do muster a trade?

11:44Where do we want to be a part of?

11:46So a lot of challenges for you as you just mark 100 days in office.

11:50Prime Minister, thank you so much for being our guest here on the Europe Conversation.

11:54See you soon.

11:54Thank you.

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