Nuland: US And Iceland Have Pioneering Bilateral Agreement - US Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs has said Iceland's bilateral agreement with the US is pioneering

US Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs has said Iceland's bilateral agreement with the US is pioneering

Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, Victoria Nuland, has said Iceland’s bilateral agreement with the US is pioneering and that she wants to see the same kind of cooperation between the US and nations in Eastern Europe.

Nuland visited Iceland yesterday to discuss bilateral and regional issues with senior Icelandic government officials.

“Nothing has changed and the defence agreement from 1951 still stands unaltered. What has changed is how we work together on security issues. Iceland runs the [former US Naval Air base], but actively cooperates with the United States on military exercises; both bilaterally as well as in cooperation with other NATO countries,” Nuland told Vísir. The Assistant Secretary went on to say that she wished to see similar cooperation with other nations, Eastern Europe especially. “This is how security cooperation in the 21st century should be and we are starting to work with other NATO countries in this way. That is why I think the cooperation between the US and Iceland is pioneering.”

Nuland became Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs last September, before that she served as the US ambassador to NATO.