We believe in free trade, Iceland Prime Minister Frostadóttir tells Euronews
In an interview with Euronews, Iceland’s Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir reaffirmed her commitment to free trade by rejecting counter-tariffs against the US, despite rising global trade tensions and concerns about spillover effects on Iceland’s relationship with the EU.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/04/15/we-believe-in-free-trade-frostadottir-says
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00:00Our guest today on the Europe Conversation is the Prime Minister of Iceland, Chrystorun Fróstadóttir.
00:14She's planning on holding a referendum on EU membership by 2027 and 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 are considered as countries within the internal market.
00:47Because 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 with the EU.
01:04And it's very important that they know that for a future relationship and also just to keep 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.
01:21We 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 its main trading partners.
01:32We've always had a historically very good relationship with the EU.
01:35Iceland 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 important that the EU shows that we are truly partners in the internal market and that trade won'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 we engage with other countries.
02:17So we won't be engaging in counter tariffs.
02:21Hopefully, we'll see these tariffs go down.
02:23But we're also aware of the fact that in comparison to other countries, this is a lower tariff.
02:32I will say our biggest concern now is an escalation of this because 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 is going to affect our economy directly.
02:51And tell me about the potential EU referendum that 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, 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.
03:17Last time when we went through this process, there wasn't an initial vote asking the public whether 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 if we had been more in line with public opinion at the time,
03:35at least asked the nation what they feel about this.
03:37So 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 means to open the negotiations,
03:56that we will have a polarized debate about this.
04:00This 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, one of the biggest obstacles, 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.
04:28And so I think it's important that we get to a stage that if we open up these negotiations, that 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 with the vote, that 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 as 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, it'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, the U.S. 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 you 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 OK.
06:40Small countries like Iceland, they thrive on the fact that we have international law, that borders are respected.
06:47But 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.
07:08Of course, European-U.S. relations now are at a historical low.
07:13There's zero trust there.
07:14And how is 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.
08:46It has to be in the public domain as well.
08:48And that's going to be the biggest, it's going to be the biggest challenge,
08:51making 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.
09:12In 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.
09:30Well, while you're in town, actually, this week,
09:31the EU-Ukraine Association meeting is taking place with the Prime Minister,
09:37Denis 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
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,
10:13I 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.
10:28We'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.
10:42Would 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?
11:06It's a defense alliance.
11:08The 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.
11:20I 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.
11:29I 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.
11:38Culture, economy, finances.
11:41You know, where do we belong?
11:42Where do we do muster 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.
