Finland and Iceland have entered into a bilateral agreement on deepened defence cooperation. The agreement was signed in Helsinki during Iceland's President Halla Tómasdóttir's state visit, by Finland's Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen and the Icelandic Minister for Foreign Affairs Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir.

The agreement is a so-called memorandum of understanding and entails, among other things, that the countries will expand cooperation in areas such as military mobility, air surveillance, defence technology, research, education, and information exchange on common security interests.

– Iceland is an important ally for Finland. We share Arctic expertise that is of value to the entire NATO. This agreement creates conditions to further strengthen both bilateral and Nordic cooperation, says Antti Häkkänen in a press release from the Finnish government.

The new agreement is described by the government as part of the country's efforts to broaden Nordic defence cooperation. Finland already has similar memorandums of understanding with all Nordic neighbouring countries, and the press release emphasises that cooperation with Iceland is becoming increasingly important as the Nordic countries now form part of the same joint command structure within NATO.

– Our interests coincide, not least within NATO and the Nordic defence cooperation NORDEFCO. This is part of strengthening Iceland's role in regional security work, says Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir according to a press release from the Icelandic government.

According to the joint memorandum of understanding, the agreement does not entail any new legal commitments, but constitutes a framework to promote dialogue, information exchange, and joint planning. Special emphasis is placed on identifying new areas of cooperation in, for example, capability development, defence technology, air surveillance, exercises, and interoperability.