On a recent visit to Iceland, the Secretary General of NATO, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, met Icelandic Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde and Foreign Minister Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir to discuss matters relating to security in the region.
On the agenda for the talks were current NATO operations as well as future possibilities. The leaders discussed the upcoming summit in Bucharest as well as Nordic concerns and contributions to the strategy and operations of the treaty group. Of particular concern for de Hoop Scheffer and Geir Haarde was the need for NATO to take into consideration the new security environment in the region today.
Although Iceland recently withdrew its only solider participating in the Iraq operations, the Secretary General highlighted the important role that Iceland has played in supporting the rehabilitation of the aviation sector in Afghanistan.
The Bucharest summit will be held in the spring of 2008. It is expected that NATO leaders will want to discuss various issues including missile defence, energy security, cyber defence, the expansion of NATO, military capabilities and maritime awareness.