It will cost Icelandic taxpayers 10 million ISK to pay the Danish air force to fly about Icelandic air space, even though their services are not needed. One member of parliament believes that money could be better spent.
As a NATO country without a military of its own, it has been a fairly regular practice for NATO countries who have militaries to come to Iceland and exercise drills. In this instance, four Danish F-16s will buzz around Iceland, banking and rolling to the tune of 10 million crowns.
According to a recent report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they estimate that no country on earth poses a direct or indirect military threat to Iceland.
When Leftist-Green MP Árni Þór Sigurðsson was asked if this money could be better spent, his answer was, “Absolutely,” reports Vísir. “As I’ve said, it’s at least my position and my party’s position that this air patrol is wholly unnecessary. That is why we emphasized in our coalition agreement [with the Social Democrats, when the government was formed] that was take a better look at this situation.”