ICELAND: TAPPED OUT ON TRUST FUND FOR NTM-I

C O N F I D E N T I A L REYKJAVIK 000206 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/08/2016 TAGS: PREL MOPS IC SUBJECT: ICELAND: TAPPED OUT ON TRUST FUND FOR NTM-I REF: A. (A) SECSTATE 83457 ¶B. (B) REYKJAVIK 69 Classified By: AMBASSADOR CAROL VAN VOORST, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (SBU) Post passed ref A talking points on pledging additional funds to the NATO Training Mission-Iraq to Icelandic MFA officials May 24 and discussed them with Acting Political Director Thordur Bjarni Gudjonsson June 9. Gudjonsson expressed surprise that Washington would be demarching Reykjavik again so soon after Iceland's latest EUR 150,000 pledge (ref B). Poloff reiterated USG appreciation for Iceland's 2005 and 2006 contributions, stressing, however, that the need for enhanced NTM-I funding is now acute. Gudjonsson stated that his government would consider an additional pledge "in due course" but that such largesse was "not on the agenda" at present. ¶2. (C) In the same conversation, Gudjonsson expressed anxiety that no date has yet been set for the next round of bilateral talks on U.S. defense of Iceland following closure of Naval Air Station Keflavik this autumn. He implied that future Icelandic funding of NATO missions is in part contingent on how much Reykjavik finds it will need to budget for homeland defense after the U.S. restructures its forces here. van Voorst