Iceland joins Germany, Canada, Norway and Denmark in North Atlantic maritime security pact
Iceland has joined a maritime security partnership with Germany, Canada, Norway, and Denmark, becoming the fifth member of a framework aimed at increasing the security of shipping traffic in the North Atlantic and Arctic.
Iceland’s foreign minister, Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, and Germany’s defense minister, Boris Pistorius, signed on their countries’ behalf at a ceremony on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara on July 8.
“This is about cooperation between countries in this region that have capability, are developing it further, and are working together in an area that has become so important, including for strengthening ties across the Atlantic,” Gunnarsdóttir said.
Pistorius called Iceland’s accession “an important step,” adding that “Iceland’s location is of course important and Icelanders have a great deal to contribute in this context.”
The Maritime Security Partnership was launched by Germany, Canada and Norway in October 2025, with Denmark joining afterward. Its aims are to build a common operational picture of the North Atlantic, conduct anti-submarine warfare, safeguard freedom of navigation, and protect undersea infrastructure, with Germany framing the effort around defending the GIUK gap, the corridor between Greenland, Iceland and the UK that carries much of NATO’s transatlantic supply lines.
Iceland has no standing military, so its role is expected to center on host nation support: port access, airspace, and logistics. Germany laid groundwork for this a year ago with a letter of intent covering surveillance and infrastructure protection and has since floated basing P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft at Keflavík.
