00:00Now although only 27 EU leaders are in that summit physically today, some others are hoping to one
00:05day sit in there too. Like Iceland, who planned to hold a referendum on EU membership. For more
00:11EU News' Shona Murray sat down with the Foreign Minister of Iceland and started by asking her if
00:16this would be a very difficult referendum to get through. Everyone knows about Brexit and all the
00:24lies that were put on the table in that process. So yes, it will not be an easy walk, but
00:32in the
00:34end, you know, you have to trust the nation and believe in her. And it's rather positive now. The
00:41outcome could be positive now, today, if we would vote. But on the other hand,
00:51you know, it's just a simple question, you know. Should we continue the negotiation talks,
00:58yes or no? And from my point of view, if you say no, you are closing a lot of doors.
01:04Instead of
01:04saying yes, should we not continue, see what kind of negotiation and agreement we will get. If you say no,
01:12then I'm afraid that Iceland will be pretty much alone. Not quite alone. But of course,
01:17we are still a member of NATO and we have the EA agreement we have after. But I think
01:23our position will be not so strong as being a member of the European Union. And there,
01:30again, I come to the values we share. What do you make of the changing nature of the transatlantic
01:37relationship? If I could now criticize the European Union is that they should be
01:44with more self-esteem. You know, the European Union is a superpower, you know, and they should act like
01:50a superpower, if I could say so. And you just, if you watch and recall the Greenlands agenda from the
02:00US part, it was quite clear that the European Union was a backbone for Denmark and Greenland
02:08when these statements were made on the US behalf. And I think that was beneficial for Denmark. But it
02:16was also useful for us in Iceland to see, okay, European Union and most of the countries, they can stand
02:25with people, with other nations when they are, in a way, attacked and their sovereignty. And
02:32Was that very worrying from an Icelandic point of view, what happened with Greenland? Because you're
02:36talking about two islands. And I mean, he actually, Donald Trump kept on saying Iceland instead of
02:41Greenland in his speech in Davos. Yeah, but he meant Greenland. I know, I know.
02:45But still, I mean, Iceland at the back of his head somewhere. Yeah, somewhere. Yeah, somewhere.
02:50Yes. But actually, just to underline, Iceland has an excellent relationship with the US.
02:56Yes, but you know, when it comes to defensive security, I just have to underline our cooperation
03:04in that field has been increasing and has been not just encouraging, you know, it has been very
03:11useful for Iceland and I know as well for the US. So whatever people say, you know, in that field,
03:17defense and security, it's fine. And it's one of the most important pillars of our new defense
03:24and security policy. But when it comes to trade, sadly, yeah, no, their friendship is not so good
03:32as it was, you know, because we got first 15 and then now 10 after the decision from the Supreme
03:39Court.
03:39So I think in Iceland, we are and we still will be advocating for a good transatlantic relationship.
03:49Of course, everybody is.
03:50You know, yeah, but we also have to work for it, you know, but we cannot be naive.
03:56Yeah, that's why I say it's important for Iceland to increase the pillars under the defense and security
04:07policy. Like I mentioned, there are two main pillars under our defense and security policy,
04:12being a member of NATO. And the other pillars is the defense agreement with the US since 1951.
04:20But of course, we are having bilateral agreements with countries like Finland and Germany. And we are
04:30updating our memory of understanding and defense with Canada. And of course, we are debating our
04:37collaboration with other countries. And we have to do it because in this world, in this volatile world,
04:44you see what Finland and Sweden did. They joined NATO. And they say those two pillars, EU and NATO,
04:52they are the backbone of their security. And I, of course, we in Iceland, we have to do something
04:58more that we have been doing. And that's why I, for example, I signed this security and defense
05:05partnership with the EU today.
05:06When you say the EU should be acting like a superpower, you should recognize the leverage
05:13that it has. I mean, if you look at what's happening in the trade world.
05:14It has humongous leverage, you know.
05:16What would you say Ursula von der Leyen should have done maybe around the issue of tariffs?
05:21Should Ireland, should the EU have played a tariff game with Trump or accepted the 15%?
05:26I will not tell them what to do. You know, it's a difficult situation. What I only ask for is
05:32in
05:34various areas, show your superpower, because together, Europe is a strong alliance.
05:40As opposed to the example of Greenland.
05:43Yeah, exactly. For the example of Greenland, there, some nations said, okay, if you're going to put tariffs
05:49on us, because we are standing with Greenland and Denmark, then we are going to put tariffs on you.
05:54And of course, it affected the markets in the US. And that's why one of the reasons that
06:01I think the US administration responded to.
