An Icelandic embassy to Poland will be opened in the country’s capital Warsaw this autumn, Iceland’s Foreign Minister announced at a cabinet meeting last week. The embassy will also be responsible for servicing Lithuania, Ukraine, and Belarus. Polish nationals account for around 40% of all immigrants living in Iceland.
“Political, economic, and cultural relations between Iceland and Poland have increased significantly in recent years,” a government notice on the new embassy reads. “An ever-increasing number of Icelanders trace their origins to Poland. The countries’ interests converge on important issues, such as security and defence. Increased communication between the two countries, not least due to the large number of Poles living in Iceland, has strengthened trade and cultural ties.”
The Polish government has operated a consulate in Iceland since 2008, which became a full-fledged embassy in 2013. “With the opening of the Icelandic Embassy in Warsaw, the necessary reciprocity in the political union of the states will finally be achieved, and it is gratifying to be able to take that step and emphasise how valuable the nations’ friendship is to us Icelanders,” Foreign Minister Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörð Gylfadóttir stated. “The Polish Embassy in Reykjavík has provided important services to the large group of Poles living in Iceland. In the same way, the Icelandic Embassy in Warsaw can provide services to Icelandic citizens and Poles with close ties to Iceland, and at the same time pave the way for Icelandic companies in these regions and safeguard Icelandic interests, for example in the EEA Development Fund.”
Read more about Iceland’s Polish community here.
