Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands Hold First Dedicated West Nordic Leaders’ Summit

The leaders of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands are meeting in Iceland for an unprecedented trilateral summit focused on security, geopolitics and economic cooperation — a potentially significant step towards a stronger West Nordic voice at a time when the Arctic and North Atlantic are attracting intense international attention.

A first for the West Nordic neighbours

The prime ministers of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands are meeting in Iceland on 7 October for what the Icelandic Government describes as the first occasion on which the heads of government of the three West Nordic countries have convened specifically in one of their territories to consult on common interests. Icelandic Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir is hosting Greenland’s Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Faroese Prime Minister Beinir Johannesen, both of whom are making their first official visit to Iceland since taking office. Although cooperation among the three North Atlantic neighbours is hardly new — they already work together through Nordic, Arctic and West Nordic institutions — bringing the three heads of government together in this format gives their relationship a distinctly more political profile.

Security moves to the centre of the West Nordic agenda

Security is conspicuously prominent on the programme. The three leaders are visiting the security area at Keflavík Air Base, where they are being briefed on Icelandic security and operational defence activities, before discussing the geopolitical situation in the Arctic and North Atlantic. The choice of location carries considerable symbolism. Iceland has no standing army but occupies an exceptionally important position between North America and Europe, while Keflavík has again become increasingly relevant to NATO surveillance and North Atlantic operations. Frostadóttir has said that the West Nordic countries cannot remain untouched by the systemic security challenges affecting the North Atlantic and that they have a responsibility to discuss them together.

The timing could hardly be more significant

The summit takes place against an unusually intense geopolitical backdrop. Only a day earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Iceland, describing the country as central to the defence of the North Atlantic and Arctic and signalling Washington’s interest in closer security cooperation as military, economic and infrastructure-related concerns increase across the High North. Greenland, meanwhile, has become one of the most strategically scrutinised places in the world, while the Faroe Islands sit astride the North Atlantic routes connecting Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland and North America. Seen from Reykjavík, Nuuk and Tórshavn, the growing international interest in the region therefore creates both opportunities and an obvious question: how much influence should the people and governments actually living in the West Nordic region have over decisions concerning its future?

Not just defence: investors are part of the programme

The summit is not confined to military affairs. Frostadóttir, Nielsen and Johannesen are also discussing the economic outlook for the West Nordic countries and opportunities for closer cooperation, while their programme includes a meeting with international investors interested specifically in opportunities across the West Nordic and Arctic region. This combination of security and investment may ultimately prove one of the meeting’s most interesting features. Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands possess enormous maritime zones, valuable fisheries, renewable-energy potential, increasingly important transport connections and strategic positions along emerging Arctic and North Atlantic networks. Their small populations can make major infrastructure projects difficult to finance independently, but closer regional coordination could give them greater visibility — and potentially greater bargaining power — when dealing with much larger international partners.

West Nordic cooperation already has foundations

The idea of a stronger West Nordic region is not being created from scratch. Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands have long cooperated politically and institutionally, while the wider Nordic Atlantic Cooperation (NORA) framework also includes coastal Norway and supports cross-border economic development. Iceland and Greenland have separately identified trade, culture, education, health, research, climate, sustainable tourism, energy and transport as areas where their bilateral relationship can deepen. The Faroe Islands likewise describe Nordic and North Atlantic cooperation as a foreign-policy priority, with particular emphasis on stronger partnerships throughout the West Nordic area. In September, moreover, Iceland, Greenland and the Faroes joined the other Nordic participants in a declaration aimed at strengthening security-of-supply cooperation in crises and war.

A West Nordic voice of their own?

What makes the 7 October meeting potentially important is therefore less the creation of another cooperation mechanism than the political level at which the conversation is taking place. Greenland and the Faroe Islands remain self-governing parts of the Kingdom of Denmark, while Iceland is an independent republic and NATO member, meaning that the three participants do not have identical constitutional or security-policy powers. Yet they share geography, relatively small populations, ocean-dependent economies and direct exposure to many of the transformations reshaping the Arctic. A regular leaders’ format could allow Reykjavík, Nuuk and Tórshavn to define common priorities before engaging with Copenhagen, Brussels, Washington and other larger capitals. That would not amount to a formal West Nordic political bloc, and there is currently no evidence that such an organisation is being created, but the summit suggests that the three governments increasingly see value in coordinating their positions directly.

Small countries at the centre of a much larger geopolitical map

For decades, maps of North Atlantic security were frequently drawn from Washington, Moscow, London, Brussels or Copenhagen. The renewed strategic importance of Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands makes that perspective increasingly inadequate. These are not simply pieces of territory separating North America from Europe: they are societies with their own governments, economic priorities and increasingly confident international voices. For readers of All Things Nordic, that may be the most significant aspect of this first leaders’ summit. Whether it develops into a durable political format will depend on what follows — regular meetings, joint projects, common positions or concrete agreements — but Reykjavík, Nuuk and Tórshavn are clearly exploring what they can achieve by approaching the rapidly changing North Atlantic not merely as three neighbours, but as a West Nordic region with shared interests of its own.

What comes next

The immediate test will be whether the meeting produces a joint statement, specific projects or commitments to institutionalise future leaders’ consultations. Until those details emerge, it would be premature to describe 7 October as the birth of a new Nordic political alliance. Nevertheless, holding a dedicated summit at head-of-government level — combining security, economics and international investment — is itself noteworthy. ATN will follow any agreements announced after the meeting, because if today’s consultation becomes a recurring format, 7 October 2026 may eventually be remembered as an important date in the political development of the West Nordic region.