Foreign Minister Gylfadóttir attended NATO and OSCE ministerial meetings

Thórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir, who took office as Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development Cooperation of Iceland, earlier this week, took part in two international ministerial meetings, signed an Air Services Agreement with Ukraine, and had several bilateral meetings, all in her first days in office. 

On Tuesday and Wednesday Gylfadóttir attended the meetings of NATO Foreign Ministers sin Riga. At the margins of the meeting, she had several bilateral meetings, including with Sophie Wilmès, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Gabrielius Landsbergis, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, José Manuel Albares Bueno, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain, and Zbigniew Rau, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland. At all the meetings, international affairs were on the agenda as well as the relations between Iceland and the respective states, especially regarding opportunities for increased bilateral relations.

From Riga, Minister Gylfadóttir went on to Stockholm to attend the Ministerial Council meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In her speech, she stressed the mutual commitments of the participating states to the fundamental values of OSCE. “Promoting security and stability in the OSCE region is at the heart of this organization’s mission. As participating states, we all hold the responsibility of upholding these commitments.”

While in Sweden, Minister Gylfadóttir also had bilateral meetings with Jeyhun Bayramov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan and Thomas Byrne, Ireland’s Minister for European Affairs. At their bilateral meeting, Minister Gylfadóttir signed an Air Services Agreement with Ukraine, along with Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister. At the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting, Gylfadóttir had a brief encounter with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, opposition leader from Belarus.

Thórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir is the fourth woman to serve as Foreign Minister of Iceland and at the age of 34, she the youngest foreign minister in our nation's history. She is the vice chairman of the Independence Party and has been a member of Althingi Parliament since 2016.