Iceland–United Kingdom relations

Icelandic–British relations

Iceland	United Kingdom

Icelandic–British relations are foreign relations between Iceland and the United Kingdom.

Iceland was a Danish possession until the 1940s. Fearing an Axis move against Iceland following the Nazi Occupation of Denmark, British forces landed on Iceland in 1940, and remained there until 1941. In 1944, Iceland declared its independence, and was recognized by London.

Since Iceland’s independence until the mid 1970s, bilateral relations were difficult due to the 'Cod Wars' (a series of disputes over fishing rights in the 1950s and 1970s). Since then relations are much better, mainly because both countries have common interests including free trade, defence, environmental protection and international peace. Both countries are members of NATO and the European Economic Area.

HM Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom paid a state visit to Iceland in June 1990.

The United Kingdom has an embassy in Reykjavik. Iceland has an embassy in London and 17 honorary consulates in: Aberdeen, Birmingham, Cardiff, Dover, East Riding of Yorkshire, Edinburgh, Fleetwood, Glasgow, Grimsby, Guernsey, Jersey (in the Channel Islands), Lerwick, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northern Ireland, and York.

Disputes past and present

"Cod wars"

Main article: Cod wars

Iceland and the United Kingdom were involved in a dispute over territorial waters in the 1970s due to Iceland's extension of its waters into what the United Kingdom regarded as international waters, which had long been used for fishing by vessels from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Norway as well as Iceland. This prompted a series of confrontations between the Icelandic Coast Guard and the Royal Navy.

Rockall

Main article: Rockall

Rockall was claimed by a number of nations, including Iceland and the United Kingdom, as well as by the Republic of Ireland and Denmark (on behalf of the Faroe Islands). The United Kingdom and Ireland reached a power sharing agreement over Rockall, but as of yet no other agreements exist with Iceland or Denmark.

Icesave dispute

Main article: Icesave dispute

The Icesave dispute was a dispute between Iceland and the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands over frozen assets held by collapsed Icelandic banks which operated in the above countries, causing much political tension.

Mackerel Row

This fishing dispute is currently developing. Iceland and the Faroe Islands have dramatically increased their quotas for mackerel. Previously (before 2006) they had landed practically no mackerel; Iceland has now allocated itself a 130,000-tonne quota. This is a dramatic increase and could affect the balance of the currently sustainable fish stock. Conservative MEP Struan Stevenson said Iceland and the Faroe Islands were "acting just like their Viking ancestors" by "plundering" stocks. It is feared this could turn into another cod war. The conflict led to a tense stand off at the port of Peterhead, when Scottish fishermen blockaded a Faroese trawler - preventing it from landing its £400,000 catch. Denmark is also a stakeholder opposed to the Icelandic/Faeroese quotas and has passed legislation to stop Icelandic landings at its ports and is considering tighter sanctions. Furthermore this is expected to affect Iceland's entry into the EU and could bring European Union wide sanctions.

The EU and Norway awarded themselves 90% of the TAC in 2011, which the Faroese and Icelandic governments felt was unfair, due mackerel migrating and spawning in Faroese and Icelandic waters, something which wasn't common before - possibly due to the oceans warming. According to scientific investigations, the TAC of mackerel was set to 646,000 tons in 2011 to remain sustainable, of which the EU and Norway awarded themselves 583,882 tons, leaving 62,118 tons to the Faroe Islands and Iceland.

Diplomatic missions

The Embassy of Iceland in London is located on Hans Street in Kensington.

See also

• Foreign relations of Iceland
• Foreign relations of the United Kingdom

External links

• The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office on relations with Iceland
• The British embassy in Reykjavik
• Icelandic embassy in London