Thursday 20 July 2023

No Army, No Problem: Iceland’s Aid To Ukraine

By Jakub Janovsky, naalsio26, Aloha, Dan and Kemal

Iceland, unique among NATO member states, maintains no standing military of its own. Throughout the Cold War, the country was host to several debates about whether or not to withdraw from NATO. During the 1970s, Iceland even threatened to leave the alliance as a result of the Second and Third Cod Wars with the UK. But despite its pacifist nature and a prime minister that is known for her opposition to Iceland's NATO membership, the island nation has contributed peacekeepers to several NATO-led missions including in Iraq and Afghanistan and is host to a NATO air base. [1] Possessing no military equipment of its own, Iceland has for the most part concentrated its efforts on providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Examples of military aid include chartering cargo aircraft to transport military equipment from NATO member states to Ukraine and the provision of winter gear, EOD equipment and a field hospital. Iceland's contributions in military aid amount to approximately 2.7bn ISK (18.3 million euros). [2] Iceland's economic and humanitarian aid contributions to Ukraine have so far amounted to 3,1bn ISK (21 million euros). [2]

The following list attempts to keep track of military and humanitarian aid given to Ukraine by the Government of Iceland during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The entries below are sorted by category. Private and corporate donations are not included in this list. This list will be updated as further support is declared.

(Click on the equipment type to get a picture of them)

Military Aid

1 Field Hospital [To be delivered]
10 Fuel Trucks For The Ukrainian Army [Delivered from May 2023 onwards]
Training And Equipping Ukrainian EOD Teams [Since March 2023] (In cooperation with Nordic countries and Lithuania)
Training Ukrainian Soldiers In Battlefield Medicine [Since May 2023] (In cooperation with the UK)
Winter Gear For Ukrainian Soldiers [2022]
Chartering Of Air Atlanta Icelandic Boeing 747 Freighters To Deliver Ammunition [Since February 2022]
3.55 Million Euro For NATO Comprehensive Assistance Package For Ukraine [2022/2023]
3.59 Million Euro For UK-Led International Fund For Ukraine [2022/2023]

Humanitarian Aid

9.38 Million Euro Through UN Agencies And The ICRC [2022/2023]
1.5 Million Euro To The Ukraine Energy Support Fund [2022/2023]
410,000 Euro Through The World Bank's Multi-Donor Trust Funds For Ukraine [2022/2023]
410,000 Euro Worth Of Generators (5) And Transformers (22) [2022/2023]
408,000 Euro Worth Of Food Items And Support For Prosthetics Equipment [2022/2023]
200,000 Euro To NATO’s Trust Fund for Ukraine Professional Development Programme [2022/2023]