Greek–Icelandic relations are foreign, economic and cultural relations between

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. Greece is represented in Iceland through its embassy in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and through an honorary consulate in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

. Iceland is represented in Greece through its embassy in

and through an honorary consulate in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. They have been firm allies for over 60 years, and have reaffirmed their ties recently at the highest levels of contacts. Both nations are members of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...

, COE, and the UN.

Historical context

Both nations are full members of the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

, and they have been since 1961.

Recent ties

The President of Iceland,

Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (; born 14 May 1943) is an Icelandic politician who was the fifth president of Iceland, serving from 1996 to 2016.

, visited Athens in September 2001, where he met with President

Kostis Stephanopoulos Konstantinos "Kostis" Stephanopoulos (, 15 August 1926 – 20 November 2016) was a Greece, Greek conservative politician who served two consecutive terms as the president of Greece from 1995 to 2005. Life and career Stephanopoulos was born ...

. In a return visit in early July 2006, the new President of Greece,

Karolos Papoulias Karolos Papoulias ( ; 4 June 1929 – 26 December 2021) was a Greek politician who served as the president of Greece from 2005 to 2015. A member of the PASOK, Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), he previously served as Minister for Foreign ...

, came to Iceland and met with President Ólafur. Among other subjects, they discussed strengthening the relations between Greece and Iceland, particularly in sectors such as telecommunications, pharmaceutical, and banking, in addition to the natural fishery products imported from Iceland to Greece. Papoulias also met in Reykjavík with the Prime Minister of Iceland

Geir Haarde Geir Hilmar Haarde (; born 8 April 1951) is an Icelandic politician who served as prime minister of Iceland from 15 June 2006 to 1 February 2009, and as president of the Nordic Council in 1995. Geir was chairman of the Icelandic Independence Par ...

and discussed subjects such as joint cooperation in the economic sector in the Balkans. During this trip the Foreign Minister of Greece Theodoros Kassimis and the Foreign Minister of Iceland Valgerður Sverrisdóttir signed an agreement on the Avoidance of Double Taxation. On August 28, 2007, Greece and Iceland reaffirmed their long-standing ties at an official meeting between Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and Icelandic Prime Minister

, "who was on a working visit to Greece." Karamanlis was reported to have said: The Greek Prime Minister is interested in Iceland's "many energy reserves." He specifically thanked "Haarde for Iceland’s backing of Greece on the

Macedonia naming dispute The use of the country name "Macedonia (terminology), Macedonia" was disputed between Greece and the North Macedonia, Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia) between 1991 and 2019. The dispute was a source of instability in the Balkans#W ...

Trade and investment

In 2008, Iceland directly exported goods worth ISK 288.7 million to Greece and imported goods worth ISK 271.6 million, or about US$3.5 million in both directions at mid-2008 rates. In 2005, Thor Bjorgolfsson was involved in a controversial attempt to purchase 16% of the shares of Forthnet, a Greek company involved in the Telecommunications and Internet sectors.

References

External links

Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the relation with Iceland

Icelandic Foreign Ministry: its representation in Greece

Iceland embassy in Oslo (accredited to Greece)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greek-Icelandic Relations

Historical context

Recent ties

Trade and investment

See also

References

External links