Foreign Minister of Iceland met with US Secretary of State

Gudlaugur Thór Thórdarson, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, met with Mike Pompeo, United States Secretary of State, in Washington DC yesterday. Security and defence, trade and Arctic issues featured high on the agenda. 

This was the first bilateral meeting between the two ministers since Secretary Pompeo took office last summer. After the meeting, the ministers issued a joint statement, in which they expressed interest in exploring possibilities for improved conditions for bilateral trade and investment as well as enhanced cooperation and consultations in the fields of security and defence, and in the Arctic.

“Iceland and the United States have a longstanding and solid relationship, with regard to both security and defence as well as trade. The US is our single biggest trading partner and US tourists are the largest single nationality that visits Iceland. Moreover, we have many mutual interests in the High North. This meeting with Secretary Pompeo indicated clearly the will of the US government to strengthen the relationship between the two countries even further,” said Gudlaugur Thór Thórdarson after the meeting.