"Acreditamos no comércio livre", diz Frostadóttir

Name: "Acreditamos no comércio livre", diz Frostadóttir
Uploaded: 2025-04-15T09:33:41+00:00
Duration: 12 min
Channel: euronews (em português)

euronews (em português)

15/04/2025

"Acreditamos no comércio livre", diz Frostadóttir

Numa entrevista exclusiva à Euronews, a primeira-ministra islandesa, Kristrún Frostadóttir, reafirmou o seu compromisso para com o comércio livre ao rejeitar a ideia de retaliar com pautas aduaneiras contra os EUA.

LEIA MAIS : http://pt.euronews.com/2025/04/15/acreditamos-no-comercio-livre-diz-frostadottir

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00:00Our guest today on the Europe Conversation is the Prime Minister of Iceland, Kristurún Fróstadóttir.

00:14She's planning on holding a referendum on EU membership by 2027

00:18and tells us she hopes the talks are not driven by fear.

00:24Prime Minister Fróstadóttir, welcome to Euronews and welcome to Brussels.

00:28It's your very first time.

00:30It is my first time.

00:31First time here and first time as Prime Minister.

00:33Yes.

00:34So what will be your message to EU leaders when you meet them?

00:36Our message for EU leaders is we need to make sure that Iceland and the other EFTA countries

00:42are considered as countries within the internal market because we're worried right now.

00:48We're worried because of the tariffs.

00:51We got a 10% tariff from the US, but we're worried that we'll see an escalation.

00:58of this tariff war and there might be some spillovers that might affect our trade relationship

01:04with the EU.

01:04And it's very important that they know that for a future relationship and also just to

01:09keep supply chains open, that we're part of the loop.

01:11Because you're a small economy, of course.

01:13And what should be the response from the EU to these tariffs?

01:15I mean, we respect the fact that they want to show their strength.

01:20We respect the fact that the EU needs to put its foot down.

01:25But we also need a clear message from the EU that they also respect the relationship with

01:30its main trading partners.

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, I think it's

01:45important that the EU shows that we are truly partners in the internal market and that trade

01:52won't be affected.

01:53And you said 10% for now.

01:55Yeah.

01:55I saw your finance minister.

01:56He 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.

02:06We're a small economy.

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

02:15we 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, this is a lower tariff.

02:31I will say our biggest concern now is an escalation of this because obviously most of our trade

02:39goes 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 is going to affect our

02:50economy directly.

02:51And tell me about the potential EU referendum that you might be having in Iceland as soon

02:56as 2027, is this debate happening because of the geopolitical tensions of late?

03:02Not initially, I would say, though I'm sure it will affect the way we talk about this.

03:08My 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, there wasn't an initial vote asking the public

03:23whether they wanted to start this process.

03:24I 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, at least asked the nation what

03:36they 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 a good debate about what it

03:54means to open the negotiations, that we will have a polarised 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.

04:09And just on the nitty gritty, last time EU membership was up in Iceland, one of the biggest

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

04:17And of course, fishing rights.

04:18Has 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, if they decide to open these negotiations

04:47with the vote, that they see firsthand how we can negotiate through that.

04:54We're going to have to see what comes out of it at this point, but we won't know until

05:00we start the negotiations.

05:02And how will Norway feel?

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

05:06I'm sure it's going to affect the Norwegians in the same way as if the Norwegians were to

05:12join 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.

05:19But like in Iceland, even though this is an international engagement matter, it's still

05:25a 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.

05:35But one issue you could perhaps comment on is Donald Trump, the US president's various

05:39comments about poaching land from other countries.

05:42We saw just last week his vice president, J.D.

05:44Vance, 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.

06:02It'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.

06:12I mean, our message has been and will continue to be you have to respect the sovereignty of

06:18nations.

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

06:22They'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

06:31broad based.

06:32And this is obviously a type of talk that should not be considered respectable or OK.

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?

07:16It'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.

07:24And so it's very important for us that any security engagement,

07:29any sort of change in that relationship doesn't mean that it's excluding the U.S.,

07:34but that it's maybe changing the relationship between the two,

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

07:43But obviously, we're aware.

07:44But it's not in 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.

07:52That'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

08:00to what President Trump said, what he tweeted when you have to run your country as well.

08:05I 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.

08:16I 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.

08:40It can't just be something that happens in bureaucratic institutions abroad, away from us.

08:46It 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

08:53for 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.

09:06It also creates, interestingly, these economic opportunities as well.

09:12In 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,

09:24when it comes to changing of the ocean.

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

09:30While 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?

09:42It's raised security concerns in Iceland.

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

09:52I do think it's made Icelanders aware of the fact that this security umbrella

10:00or this peaceful umbrella that we've been living under over the past few decades,

10:05it isn't a given.

10:07We'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,

10:17and 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.

10:25So obviously our support is fully with the Ukrainian people.

10:29We've had donations going there, both on military aid and humanitarian aid.

10:36But it's also changing the security landscape.

10:39And it's something that we have to push forward with.

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

10:45So we feel safe where we are right now.

10:48I 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

11:00sort of on the back of these security concerns.

11:03But NATO is a security alliance, right?

11:05It'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 look at EU membership as a broad spectrum, culture, economy, finances.

11:41You 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.

11:55Thank you.

"Acreditamos no comércio livre", diz Frostadóttir

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