RNH Academic Director Hannes H. Gissurarson, Professor Emeritus of Politics at the University of Iceland, gave an interview on 4 June 2026 at the podcast Thjodolfur, managed by Gústaf Adolf Skúlason. His message was that the Icelanders should maintain friendly relations both with the United States in the West and the European Union in the East, but not become American or European subjects. Iceland’s foreign policy should be first and foremost to sell fish and pursue security, but not to do much beyond that in the international arena. The cost of membership in the European Union would be huge, but the benefits doubtful. It was clear that as a member, Iceland would relinquish control of the fisheries and agriculture and pay much more into the EU than it would receive from it. The experience of the British and the Irish showed that the EU did not fulfil its promises on the fisheries.
