16 October 2006
Gorbachev visits Iceland to mark summit
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev visited Reykjavik to commemorate the 20th anniversary of an historic summit meeting with former US President Ronald Reagan.
The two-day meeting held on October 12 1986 in Iceland is regarded by many as marking the beginning of the end of the Cold War era.
Reagan and Gorbachev came within a whisper of agreeing to total nuclear disarmament in their talks in the quaint, wooden Hofdi House in the centre of the Icelandic capital.
"I am very happy to be back in a place where, 20 years ago, a meeting took place that had far-reaching consequences for the entire world," Gorbachev said through a translator in a speech at Hofdi House.
"It was after Reykjavik that decisions were taken that enabled us to preserve our planet and end a war," he said.
Gorbachev was met by Reykjavik mayor Vilhjalmur Vilhjalmsson and Iceland's Foreign Minister Valgerdur Sverrisdottir, among others.
Though no treaty was signed at the summit, Gorbachev and Reagan made progress in their negotiations to reduce both nations' missile defences.
"The negotiations were part of a seismic shift in international relations which touched most nations, especially those in Europe," said Sverrisdottir, adding that the departure of US military forces from Iceland two weeks ago is one direct consequence of the way the world shifted after the summit.
Gorbachev's international status was strengthened at the summit, where he met locals, chatted at length with reporters and strolled around with his glamorous wife Raisa, a far cry from the distant behaviour of former Soviet leaders.
He and Reagan got on famously and agreed at one stage to work towards total elimination of American and Soviet nuclear arsenals.
Reagan's advisers, however, dissuaded him from such a radical step and the summit ended in failure.
It set the tone for future summits, however, in which major disarmament progress was made.
During the Cold War, the US Naval Air Station in Keflavik, a bleak volcanic area outside the capital, played a key role for American security, allowing AWACS surveillance planes to hunt for Soviet aircraft and submarines that passed by.
In Washington, an agreement between Iceland and the US was signed providing for future defence cooperation after American forces withdrew at the end of September.
The US government has said it will remain responsible for Iceland's defence, an agreement first reached in 1951. Iceland has no military of its own.
Sverrisdottir said she did not think the American departure would affect Iceland's security in a post Cold War era. "This is going to mean a lot of changes, but the whole world is changing," she said.
Australian Associated Press, 12.10.2006
