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Author : A. Zaitsev
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Russia's ambassador to the Republic of Iceland (1998-
2002), Candidate of Sciences (Economics)
THE PROPOSAL of an assignment to Iceland made to me over the
phone when I was on vacation by the chief of the Foreign Ministry
Personnel Department who gave me two days to think about it, for
the umpteenth time confirmed the correctness of my idea formed
over more than 30 years of diplomatic service of the unpredictability
of the chosen career.
I accepted the offer remembering the oriental wisdom about the need
to change occupations for at least once in 12 years to boost your pro-
fessional growth and gain knowledge of new regions, countries and
cultures.
Nothing else is taken by the Icelanders so close to heart and so res-
olutely defended the entire recent history of the country proves this
as their rich fishing grounds and their right to use them.
During my first days in Iceland I did not know much about local realities and I did not realize
right away that it was an earthquake and a rather strong at that. I finally got used to earthquakes
after four years of my stay there. The city experienced several strong quakes and in March of
2000 I happened to watch an eruption of Iceland's biggest volcano Hekla, 110 km east of the
capital, Reykjavik.
WHEN I BECAME HEAD of the Soviet embassy in Reykjavik our relations with Iceland, ac-
cording to our Foreign Ministry, left much to be desired.
The only political document it formed the foundation on which to build in the absence of new
accords and legal documents was the 1994 declaration on the principles of relations between
Russia and Iceland, which did not actually work for the lack of practical value.
Having the above in mind, the first contacts with the leaders of Iceland were focused on ex-
plaining Russia's position on NATO expansion and Russian initiatives aimed at confidence build-
ing in the Baltic area to enhance security and stability.
Bilateral trade and economic relations were declining over the years to a point where the Russian
trade mission in Reykjavik was closed down in 1995.
The bilateral political dialogue widened, its level increased and more visits were exchanged. Most
of the visits took place for the first time in the entire history of relations between both coun-
tries.
FAR REACHING HOPES were pinned on the first ever official visit to Russia by a President
of the Republic of Iceland, O.R. Grimsson and his talks with Russia's leadership especially with
regard to rebuilding trade and economic ties undermined by the 1998 financial crisis in Russia
and achieving progress in the hard-to-solve issues.
Remembering Reykjavik