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

• 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: NATO; Norður-Atlantshafssamningurinn; þjóðaréttur; fyrirvarar; Political institutions and public administration (General); JF20-2112; Political science (General); JA1-92; Iceland
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2016.12.1.4; https://doaj.org/article/a27bb69b37d54147b782b2e36bd67d65

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.