Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces visits Iceland

Gen Michael Claesson, Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, visited Iceland this week on the occasion that a Swedish fighter detachment is currently deployed in Iceland for a NATO Air Policing Mission for the first time.

The General visited his compatriots in the security area at Keflavík Air Base where he also familiarized himself with the conditions, activities and cooperation between the Icelandic Coast Guard and NATO.

He then met with Jónas G. Allansson, Director General of the Defence Directorate at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where the fruitful and close cooperation between the nations in terms of security issues in the Arctic as well as within the NATO framework was discussed.

“Our nations share a unique bond of friendship, and Sweden’s membership in NATO has further deepened our cooperation on security and defence issues, thereby strengthening the Alliance’s collective defence in the Arctic,” says Minister for Foreign Affairs Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir. “With the arrival of the Swedish fighter detachment to Iceland for the NATO Air Policing Mission we have closed the Nordic circle, as now all Nordic countries have undertaken this important task for us Icelanders and for the Alliance as a whole.”

The Chief of the Swedish Armed Forces is very pleased with the reception in Iceland.

“The Swedish contingent has been received with great professionalism and warmth here in Iceland. Cooperation within the framework of NATO Air Policing is working very well and is characterised by mutual trust and a shared understanding of the mission. I look forward to continuing the dialogue we have initiated with Iceland’s Chief of Defence, Jonas Allansson, and to further developing our close cooperation together. There is a very strong foundation and solid relations between our countries on which to build,” says Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, Michael Claesson.