Poland in Iceland

Historical view 

Polish-Icelandic ties date back to 95 years. Iceland has recognized Poland on the 28th of January 1922, whereas Iceland as a republic established diplomatic relations with Poland in 1946. 

Political cooperation after 1989

Polish-Icelandic ties have been developing well. Poland is an important political and economic partner of Iceland in Central Eastern Europe. Since Poland’s accession into European Union on the 1st of May 2004 the economic cooperation has been carried out within the framework of European Economic Area and subsequent amendments related to the expansion of EEA into 10 new member states (the EEA enlargement protocol came into force on the 6th of December 2005. On the 1st of May 2006 Iceland has fully opened up its labor market for the citizens of new member states including Poland. Bilateral agreements conluded between Poland and Iceland, which are not covered by the Community law have remained valid, i.e. agreement on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of evasion of income and estate tax of the 19th of June 1998 and protocol to this agreement of the 16th of May 2012, which entered into force on the 23rd of August 2013. Iceland considers Poland as a partner in energy cooperation, in particular in the field of untapping the potential of renewable energy, including geothermal energy. A significant dimension of our relations is the fact that both of our nations are members of NATO. Iceland as a member of EEA has been a donor country into the EEA Financial Mechanism between 2004-2009 and 2009-2014 of which Poland has been greatest beneficiary. 

On the 15th of September 2016 prime minister Beata Szydło agreed to launch negotiations on the Memorandum of Understanding  on the Implementation of the EEA Financial Mechanism for the period 2014-2021 between the Republic of Poland, Principality of Lichtenstein, Kingdom of Norway and Iceland.  In 2008 on the basis of the Polish Foreign Minister’s decision of the 25th of January 2007 Polish Consulate General in Reykjavik has been opened. On the 1st of April 2013 the Consulate General has been evaluated to rank of an embassy which was headed by a Chargé d’affaires ad interim until the 23rd of January 2018 when ambassador Gerard Pokruszyński submitted his letters of credence to the President of Iceland Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson. Since 2002 r. the Icelandic Ambassador in Berlin has been accredited in Poland. Prevoius ambassador Martin Eyjólfsson submitted his letters of credence on the 6th of October 2016, the current Icelandic Ambassador in Berlin María Erla Marelsdóttir has not yet submitted her letters. In the face of the engulfing economic crisis in Iceland, part of the globacl economic crisis the Polish Government responded to the call of the Prime Minister of Iceland to support Icelandic economy and decided that Poland joined the International Consortium of States and IMF and in its framework announced on the 7th of November 2008 to allocate 200 million USD of financial aid to Iceland. On the 4th of October 2009 a loan agreement has been signed by the Governments of Poland and Iceland. Poland offered 630 million Polish złotys of assistance (approximately 200 million USD) for the period of 12 years in 3 tranches, conditional on the positive reviews of the IMF. Iceland has used the assistance to purchase Polish government bonds issued by the Polish Ministry of Finance in 4 series. The economic revival which began in 2011 has become a steady economic growth which brought a significant improvement of Iceland’s financial situation. One of the key elements which contributed to Iceland overcoming the economic crisis was regaining access to the International financial markets as result of the conclusion of the IMF assistance program. During 2014 Iceland paid back all its dues to the Nordic states and in case of the IMF it did so ahead of time. In March 2015 Iceland proposed to pay back the loan granted by Poland in 2009, as result of which an annex to the exisiting agreement was signed on the 27th of May 2015 during the visit of the Finance Minister Mateusz Szczurek in Reykjavik. The final settlement of the loan happened at the turn of May and June 2015. The Icelandic hosts attached great importance to minister’s Szczurek visit, on only in the context of the settlement of the loans granted by other states but also in bilateral aspect. Minister Szczurek was received by the prime minister of Iceland, who thanked him for providing quick financial assistance to Iceland in a dramatic moment.

High-level visits: President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson on the 11th of March 1999 r. paid a first official visit in the history of bilateral ties between Poland and Iceland. President Lech Kaczyński met President Grímssonem during the 64th  General Assembly of the UN in New York on the 23rd of September 2009. Foreign Affairs Minister Radosław Sikorski his Icelandic counterpart on the 3rd of April 2008 r. during the NATO Summit in Bucharest. Minister Mikołaj Dowgielewicz conducted consultatios in Reykjavik on the 28th of April 2011 r. On the 20th of February 2013 r. Foreign Minister Össur Skarphedinsson attended the meeting of foreign ministers of Nordic, Baltic and Visegrad countries in Gdańsk. Between the 26th and 28th of February 2013 Regional Development Minister Elżbieta Bieńkowska paid a visit to Reykjavik aimed at sharing with her Icelandic hosts the Polish experience in acquiring EU funds. On the 4th of June 2014 Foreign Minister of Iceland Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson paid a visti to Warsaw where he met with deputy prime minister Bieńkowska. In July 2016 Marek Gróbarczyk Minister of Marine Economy and Inland Navigation signed a memorandum of cooperation in the field of fisheries, fish breeding, biotechnology, shipyard industry and trade. Between 20th and 21st of June 2017 Foreign Minister Waszczykowski paid a visit to Reykjavik – it was the first official visit of a Polish Foreign Minister to Iceland since 1976. Minister Waszczykowski took part in an informal meeting of foreign minister of the CBSS and in an bilateral meeting with his Icelandic counterpart Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson. On the 30th of May 2017 r. Icelandic Foreign Minister attended the V meeting of the foreign ministers of the Visegrad Group, Nordic and Baltic States (V4-NB8) in Sopot. Between the 12th and 14th of October 2018 the Speaker of the Polish Senate Stanisław Karczewski and the Minister of National Education Anna Zalewska paid a visit to Iceland where they attended the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Polish School of Reykjavik and held talks with the Speaker of Alþingi and with the Minister of Culture and Education. Between the 5th and 6th of April 2019 Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz paid a visit to Iceland.

President of Iceland Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson attended the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of WWII commemorations in Warsaw in September 2019 and between the 3rd and 5th of March 2020 paid an official visit to Poland, accompanied by the Minister of Culture and Education Lilja Alfredsdóttir. A declaration of cooperation in the field of education between Poland and Iceland was signed by the respective ministers of education.

The economic cooperation between Poland and Iceland focuses on a few brachnes which makes it susceptible to volatility.  As a result both exports and imports frequently change. Iceland is the 60th trading partner of Poland (share of 0,1%) and 67th partner in imports (share of 0,1%).  According to the data supplied by the State Statistics Office the trade volume between Poland and Iceland in 2016 amounted to  300,3 mln EUR (in 2015 196,2 mln EUR). Polish exports was 152,5 mln EUR (63,1 mln EUR in 2015), imports from Iceland were 147,9 mln EUR (133,1 mln EUR in 2015). The main source of growing exports to Iceland in 2016 were machineries. The growing imports of aluminium and aluminium producsts as well as fish contributed significantly to the volume of Icelandic imports to Poland.