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Iceland–United Kingdom relations

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Icelandic–British relations
Map indicating locations of Iceland and United Kingdom

Iceland
United Kingdom

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

Before independence, Iceland had been an independent part of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1918. Fearing an Axis move against Iceland following the Nazi Occupation of Denmark, British forces landed on Iceland in 1940. On 17 June 1944, 200 days after the 25 year Danish–Icelandic Act of Union had expired and following a referendum, Iceland was declared an independent republic with this being recognised by London as well as the King of Denmark.

From 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.

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom paid a state visit to Iceland in June 1990.[1] In October 2015, David Cameron became the first UK Prime Minister to officially visit Iceland (to attend the Northern Future Forum) since it became a republic in 1944. The last UK PM to visit the territory had been Winston Churchill, in August 1941.[2]

The United Kingdom has an embassy in Reykjavík. Iceland has an embassy in London and seventeen 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. Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).[3]

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 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

In recent years, mackerel migration and spawning has taken place into both Faroese and Icelandic waters and since then the quota Iceland has allocated to itself has risen to a 130,000-ton quota. This has led to tensions between the Icelandic government and those of the United Kingdom, Norway and Ireland. The European Union and Norway awarded themselves 90% of the TAC in 2011, despite Icelandic and Faroese objections. Scientific investigations concluded that the TAC of mackerel should be 646,000 tons, of which the EU and Norway awarded themselves 583,882 tons, leaving only 62,118 tons for the Faroe Islands and Iceland. This debate has led to speculation of a future cod war.[4]

Diplomatic missions

The Embassy of Iceland in London is located on Hans Street in Kensington. The British Embassy in Reykjavík is located on Laufásvegur street in the Miðborg district.

See also

References

  1. ^ "OUTWARD STATE VISITS MADE BY THE QUEEN SINCE 1952". Official web site of the British Monarchy. Archived from the original on 2008-10-21. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  2. ^ Hafstad, Vala (12 October 2015). "Cameron Is Coming". Iceland Review. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  3. ^ Cook, Bernard A. (2014). Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 207.
  4. ^ "EU mad over mackerel". Global Post. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
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