Bryndís Haraldsdóttir, member of parliament for the Independence Party and president of the Nordic Council, expects a fruitful session of the Nordic Council in Reykjavík starting next weekend, despite snap elections for Alþingi, Iceland’s Parliament, occupying the minds of politicians, Mbl.is reports.
Focus on security and defence issues
The Nordic Council forms the basis of inter-parliamentary cooperation between the Nordic states. Iceland has held the presidency of the council since last year’s session in Oslo. The theme of Iceland’s presidency is “Peace and Security in the Arctic” and most of Bryndís’ attention has gone to reforming the so called Helsinki Treaty to add security issues to Nordic cooperation.
“Nordic parliamentarians agree that the Treaty should be updated to add security and defence issues that were not included due to historical reasons,” Bryndís said. “I’ve said that I believe we need robust Nordic cooperation in the area of security and defence and at some point we could establish a Nordic military.”
No talk of Icelandic military
When asked about Iceland’s role as a country with no military, Bryndís said that the other Nordic countries could open their doors to Icelandic citizens. “The Norwegian and Danish militaries have already done this,” she said. “The Swedish and Finnish militaries only enlist citizens of their own. I’m not making an argument for an Icelandic armmy, but I think the global situation is such that we really need to look at our security and defence issues in the broader sense. Security in the Arctic circle also means food security, communications security, and many challenges that have to do with climate change and the melting ice caps. The idea of cooperation therefore pertains to these issues, societal security.”
The session of the Nordic Council will take place in Reykjavík city hall and will include guests from many countries apart from the Nordics. “I feel that there’s considerable interest and I’ve seen this year that any countries look to the Nordic Council as an example on regional cooperation.”
