Iceland

French presence

Honorary Consulates: Akureyri, Ísafjörður, Egilsstaðir
French community in Iceland: 350 people

Visits

The most recent visit of the Icelandic President to France was on 11 November 2018 for the 1918 Remembrance Day centenary ceremonies and the Paris Peace Forum. The Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, attended the Paris Climate Conference on 12 December 2017. The French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, received his Icelandic counterpart, Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson, in Paris on 1 October 2018. Mr Gourdault-Montagne, then Secretary General, received his counterpart, Mr Sigurjónsson, on 24 April 2019.

French Ambassador in Reykjavík: Graham Paul (since October 2017)
X account: @FranceenIslande

Icelandic Ambassador in Paris: Kristján Andri Stefánsson (since August 2016)
X account: @KristjanAStef

Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation

France is currently one of the only diplomatic representations, along with Germany, China and Canada, to have a cultural service, and the only one apart from China to have its own language teaching association: the Alliance Française. France therefore has a strong cultural presence there. Educational and academic cooperation between France and Iceland is mainly via the European Erasmus+ programme. The Hubert Curien Partnership (PHC), entitled Jules Verne, allows researchers to travel and new partnerships to be set up in cutting-edge areas (Arctic issues, geothermal energy, earth sciences, life sciences). Franco-Icelandic links with regard to Arctic issues have grown stronger in recent years, with Iceland’s participation in the European consortium ACCESS, coordinated by Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC), and the opening of French research stations in Svalbard and the Antarctic to Icelandic scientists.