 |
|---|
 Icelandportal |
The Agreed Minute was a statute governing the nature of the U.S. military presence in Iceland from 1994 to 2006. [1] [2]
| |
|---|
| Icelandportal |
The Agreed Minute was a statute governing the nature of the U.S. military presence in Iceland from 1994 to 2006. [1] [2]
In 1951 American troops returned to Iceland to form an Iceland Defense Force. As Iceland has had no standing military of its own since World War II, it was perceived that standing defences were required as the Soviet threat heightened. After the Cold War ended, the U.S. was reluctant to maintain the expense of retaining forces in Iceland. Icelandic politicians, however, were reluctant to see the American forces leave. Hence the Agreed Minute was developed and signed in 1994 as a compromise in which both parties compromised and came to an understanding. [1] [3]
The Agreed Minute was last renegotiated in 2001. At the time, the U.S. Air Force committed itself to maintaining four to six interceptors at the Keflavík base, supported by a helicopter rescue squadron. The Air Force, in order to cut costs, announced plans to remove the four remaining jets in 2003. The removal was then delayed to address Icelandic demands for continued presence of the jets. [4] After an unfruitful series of negotiations and two reshufflings of the Icelandic government the issue lay dormant until early 2006 when the U.S. Air Force issued an official statement that withdrawal of the aircraft was already being prepared. U.S. officials have since then argued that Iceland is in no need of U.S. military presence and the last remaining airmen left Iceland during September 2006. [5]
Iceland's defence forces consist of the Icelandic Coast Guard, which patrols Icelandic waters and monitors its airspace, and other services such as the National Commissioner's National Security and the Special Unit of the National Police Commissioner. Iceland maintains no standing army, the only NATO member for which this is the case.
Iceland took control of its foreign affairs in 1918 when it became a sovereign country, the Kingdom of Iceland, in a personal union with the King of Denmark. As a fully independent state, Iceland could have joined the League of Nations in 1920, but chose not to do so for cost reasons. It negotiated with Denmark to initially carry out most of its foreign relations, while maintaining full control. Denmark appointed a diplomatic envoy (Ambassador) to Iceland in 1919 and Iceland reciprocated in 1920, opening an embassy in Copenhagen. Iceland established its own Foreign Service in April 1940 when Denmark became occupied by Nazi Germany and ties between the two countries were severed. The Republic of Iceland was founded in 1944. The Icelandic foreign service grew slowly in the post-WWII period, but increased rapidly after the mid-1990s. Iceland's closest relations are with the Nordic states, the European Union and the United States. Iceland has been a member of the United Nations since 1946. Iceland was a founding member of the World Bank in 1946 and NATO in 1949. In terms of European integration, Iceland was a founding member of the OEEC in 1948 and the Nordic Council in 1952, it joined EFTA in 1970, was a founding member of the CSCE in 1973 and the EEA in 1992 and joined Schengen in 1996.
The Air Corps is the air force of Ireland. Organisationally a military branch of the Defence Forces of Ireland, the Air Corps utilises a fleet of fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft to carry out a variety of duties in conjunction with the Irish Army, Irish Naval Service and Garda Síochána. The headquarters of the Air Corps is located at the Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel, Dublin. The Air Corps has an active establishment of 886 personnel. Like other components of the Defence Forces, it has struggled to maintain strength and as of December 2023 has only 689 active personnel. Unlike the Army or the Naval Service, the Air Corps does not maintain a reserve component.
The Iceland Defense Force was a military sub-unified command of the United States Department of Defense. It existed from 1951 to 2006. It came into existence when the United States agreed to provide for the defense of Iceland, which has only limited defense forces.
The Ukrainian Air Force is the air force of Ukraine and one of the eight branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ZSU). Its current form was created in 2004 by merging the Ukrainian Air Defence Forces into the Air Force.
Keflavík Airport, also known as Reykjavík–Keflavík Airport, is the largest airport in Iceland and the country's main hub for international transportation. The airport is located approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) west of the town of Keflavík, Reykjanesbær. and 50 km (30 mi) southwest of Reykjavík. The airport has two runways each measuring approx. 3,050 m (10,010 ft). Most international journeys to or from Iceland pass through this airport.
The 85th Fighter Group is an active United States Air Force organization, stationed atEbbing Air National Guard Base as an active associate of the 188th Wing. It serves as a training unit for countries using the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.
Naval Air Station Keflavik (NASKEF) is a United States Navy air station at Keflavík International Airport, Iceland, located on the Reykjanes peninsula on the south-west portion of the island. NASKEF was closed on 8 September 2006, and its facilities were taken over by the Icelandic Defence Agency as their primary base until 1 January 2011, when the Agency was abolished and the base handed over to the Icelandic Coast Guard, which operated the base until 2017. US forces returned to Keflavik in 2016, renovating parts of the base to accommodate P-8As on short duration/expeditionary detachments.
Reykjavík Airport is the main domestic airport serving Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland, located about two kilometres from the city centre. It is the domestic hub of Icelandair flights and has two runways. Reykjavík Airport is owned and operated by the state enterprise Isavia.
The anti-NATO riot in Iceland of 30 March 1949 was prompted by the decision of the Alþingi, the Icelandic parliament, to join the newly formed NATO, thereby involving Iceland directly in the Cold War, opposing the Soviet Union and re-militarizing the country.
The United Kingdom invaded Iceland on 10 May 1940, during World War II using its Royal Navy and Royal Marines forces. The operation, codenamed Operation Fork, occurred because the British government feared that Iceland would be used militarily by Nazi Germany, which had overrun Denmark a month earlier. Although Iceland was independently governed, it was in a personal union with Denmark, which was largely responsible for its foreign relations. The Government of Iceland issued a protest, charging that its neutrality had been "flagrantly violated" and "its independence infringed".
The United States has maintained diplomatic relations with Iceland since the mid-1800s.
The Occupation of Iceland during World War II began with a British invasion intent on occupying and denying Iceland to Germany. The military operation codenamed Operation Fork was conducted by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. In time, the British forces were replaced by Canadian and later American forces, despite that the United States was not yet in the war.
This is a brief overview of historical warfare and recent developments in Iceland. Iceland has never participated in a full-scale war or invasion and the constitution of Iceland has no mechanism to declare war.
Poltava Air Base is a military airfield located approximately 8 km (5.0 mi) northwest of Poltava, Ukraine. It is one of two airfields near Poltava, the other being Poltava Airport.
Icelandic Air Policing is a NATO operation conducted to patrol Iceland's airspace. As Iceland does not have an air force, in 2006 it requested that its NATO allies periodically deploy fighter aircraft to Keflavik Air Base to provide protection of its airspace. The first deployment of aircraft took place in May 2008.
Iceland Base Command (IBC) is an inactive United States Army organization. It was established for the United States defense of the Kingdom of Iceland during World War II. It was inactivated on 4 March 1947.
Ástandið is a term used in Iceland to refer to the influence Allied troops had on Icelandic women during the Second World War. At its peak the number of Allied soldiers equaled almost 50% of the native male population. Many of the foreign soldiers would court Icelandic women, and estimates of the number of local women who married foreign soldiers go into the hundreds. Such interaction between Icelandic women and foreign troops was not always well received, and the women involved were often accused of prostitution and betraying their home country. Children born from such unions are known in Icelandic as ástandsbörn.
Throughout the Cold War, the nation of Iceland was a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and allied with the United States, hosting a US military presence in Keflavík Air Base from 1951 to 2006.
 | This article about politics in Iceland is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article related to a treaty is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |