Dear Prime Minister, dear Christian, dear friend, I'm really happy to have you here in Warsaw, and thank you for your decision to make this visit to us.
Can you recall me? 7% of the community, immigration — they're a part of Icelandic culture. Okay.
Referendum. Referendum.
President.
Positions.
Foreign.
Iceland.
Thank you, Donald, for your kind words and for receiving me here in Warsaw. Yes, I'm coming from Kyiv, but this is also an important visit for me and for the Icelandic nation as a whole, that we strengthen the ties between Iceland and Poland. We have these ties on so many various levels. Like Donald said, on a personal level, we have the highest number of immigration coming from Poland to Iceland. And I mean, I can say that this was definitely and has been a success story in Iceland — the integration of Polish immigrants in Iceland, being able to hold on to their own identities. I know that there they have language classes for their own language, but are also active parts of Icelandic classes. No clashes. No, no, no, no clashes. And I told Donald this story that my older daughter's favorite kindergarten teacher is Polish, Marco Sata. I mean, everyone has this story to tell in Iceland of someone who's touched their lives that comes from Poland. And so I have the utmost and deepest respect for you. We also have had a great relationship on various other accounts. Obviously, we're joint NATO members, and we always welcome more activity in our region when it comes to protecting Arctic security. We had a few years back some air policing from Poland and would welcome that going forward, and also obviously have the same sentiment when it comes to the importance of protecting Europe, protecting the sovereignty of countries in Europe. And this is a good group to be a part of. Donald mentioned here, yes, that we are going forward now in the next few months — possibly, we haven't decided finally on the date — but in the coming months we are going to have a referendum on opening up the negotiations, the accession negotiations for Iceland of possibly joining the EU. And we talked about extensively the importance of understanding that this is about, you know, opening an opportunity. Do we want to see how we can be a better integrated place in Europe? Is there respect for Icelandic identity within Europe? We have been active and very good partners through the EEA. This is our biggest trading bloc, but we have a lot of other elements that we can share. And I think we share that attitude towards the importance of whether Iceland joins the EU or not — the importance of us having a shared understanding of the distinctiveness of every country in Europe, but also joining together as a group. I also want to say that it feels, even though it was a somber attitude, as Prime Minister Tusk mentioned yesterday in Kyiv, I think it's very important that we come out of this fourth year of aggression united in solidarity. And Iceland has, in various aspects, been a participant in projects that Poland has been supporting Ukraine, and we will continue to do so. Thank you.
Hi, my name is Sami. I'm from Iceland. I mean, maybe a quick question for both of you: What could Iceland bring to the EU and vice versa? And Mr. Tusk, would you have any experienced advice for Icelanders on accession talks?
I think Iceland has a lot to bring to the EU. Iceland has shown its strength and its perseverance throughout centuries. We have been able to develop our resources in a positive way. We've been able to drive GDP growth in the right direction. We have had a good welfare system. We have solid values and we have respect for one another. A lot of these are underlying values that we see in the European community as a whole as well. But Iceland also is an Arctic nation. We're not mainland Europe. So even though we share certain values, we don't share borders in the same way that a lot of central European or mainland European countries understand. So this is a different element to Europe. And I think in this geopolitical environment that we're in, this would be an add-on to Europe. But obviously that has to be taken into account — that, you know, this special situation of our position needs to be taken into consideration if we decide to join talks, that they understand our way of life, the way we use our resources. And so I'm looking forward to see what comes out of that.
As you know, here in Poland, you have no doubts that EU membership is a success story for my country. I am really happy that Europe, as a political organization, the EU, is still attractive for many countries. I've heard so many comments that Europe is close to collapse, and I said, you know, it's not true. It's still the best place in the world, including Iceland. Iceland is Europe. We are talking about how to improve our relations, how to — and in some areas it's absolutely clear for both of us and for all of us that Europe, as a part of the world in this very specific place, should be more integrated. And security is the first obvious reason why we should find more ways, sometimes specific ways, how to integrate each other. For me, it's also really important to have Iceland as the closest partner possible — closest partner for, in fact, for everything. Yeah, I absolutely understand and I respect some specifics. I mean, and this is the only way how to integrate the EU with other countries. I mean, to understand first of all, to show respect, to understand what dignity means, to treat the bigger and smaller countries equally — it's really important. Brussels is not to teach anyone. I mean, for me it's absolutely clear that the EU is very attractive for countries like Iceland, but it must be absolutely clear for all the Europeans that Iceland is equally attractive as a possible member for Europe as a whole. And as I said, I would be more than happy if Iceland will be part of our community, even if the community should change for this a little bit to be more flexible. And I'm ready to work on this. It is in our common interest. For me, it's also very important to underline how important it is for our regional security to have this different form of integration — not only with Iceland, but also with Norway, Sweden, the Baltic states, Finland, Denmark. It works. Now Poland is a part of the most effective format in NATO and in the EU when it comes to defense cooperation, and we will continue this work for obvious reasons. I am absolutely sure that we are able to find the best possible way how to discuss about our integration. And something what I think is maybe the best evidence that it makes sense to discuss about integration is the situation now in the UK. If you ask people today about Brexit in the UK, the latest polls are absolutely clear: 65% of the Brits, they would vote for the EU today. More than 80% of young people in the UK are in favor when it comes to possible membership in the EU. It means that if you have this very specific experience like Brexit, you know, maybe much better than the others, that the membership of the EU is something really valuable. And I wish you — I wish you — okay, we'll see.
