Iceland’s Alleged Reservation to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty

When Iceland became a party to NATO, the Icelandic government seems to have believed that it made a reservation to the core obligation of the North Atlantic Treaty – the “one for all and all for one” obligation — in a speech held during a dinner celebrating its signature. A few decades later, this b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Veftímaritið Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla
Main Authors: Sigurjón Njarðarson, Bjarni Már Magnússon
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Icelandic
Published: University of Iceland 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2016.12.1.4
https://doaj.org/article/a27bb69b37d54147b782b2e36bd67d65
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Summary:When Iceland became a party to NATO, the Icelandic government seems to have believed that it made a reservation to the core obligation of the North Atlantic Treaty – the “one for all and all for one” obligation — in a speech held during a dinner celebrating its signature. A few decades later, this belief prevails, to some extent, in Icelandic politics. This opinion has no substance in international law. As is discussed, the reservation does not conform to formal and substantive requirements that international law makes to reservations. Consequently, Iceland is bound by the North Atlantic Treaty in the same way as other member states.