The United States will maintain its presence at the Naval Air Station Keflavik in Iceland as part of Washington's commitments to both Reykjavik and NATO, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th May, 2021) The United States will maintain its presence at the Naval Air Station Keflavik in Iceland as part of Washington's commitments to both Reykjavik and NATO, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.
"We plan to continue to maintain the US presence on a persistent, rotational basis, in order to support our obligations to NATO and Iceland. We're working very closely with the government of Iceland and our military forces have received tremendous support at Keflavik, at the NATO air base," Blinken said at a joint press conference alongside his Icelandic counterpart, Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson.
The Keflavik air base, located near Iceland's capital Reykjavik, was a NATO transport and interceptor hub at the height of the Cold War. The US Air Force reestablished its military presence there in 1951, following a post-war withdrawal, and was very active in the area until 2006 when it handed over the base to the Icelandic authorities. In 2016, however, the countries agreed to redeploy US troops on the island.
