Statement: Reinforcing Cooperation for a Secure and Stable Maritime
Address by Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, at High-Level Ministerial Event: Reinforcing Cooperation for a Secure and Stable Maritime. Wednesday 23 September.
As a nation of seafarers, Icelanders know how fundamental the freedom to set sail is to truly being free. The ocean is our bridge to the wider world – our channel for trade, travel, food and prosperity. The freedom of navigation – together with the other freedoms enshrined in the Law of the Sea Convention – was a hard-fought milestone that ensures equality among States.
We know that this freedom is under attack, just like the Law of the Sea Convention is under attack. Iran’s hostile actions to close off navigation through the Strait of Hormuz are but one example. We stand in solidarity with international partners on a cross-regional basis in rejecting any measure purporting to restrict free transit passage through international straits or make it subject to the payment of tolls.
The UNCLOS system is under attack, both from those that seek to defy it and those that seek to exploit it. We must stand together in defending the Convention as the unified and universal legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out.
It is important to recognize that this is not an isolated fight to protect the freedom of navigation, in fact, this is the fight for the rules-based international order. That order underpins our collective security, and it supports our prosperity and well-being by ensuring legal certainty and predictability. It can only do that if international law is complied with and if there is accountability for violations.
This is why we cannot abide flagrant violations of the UN Charter, of UNCLOS, or other fundamental international law norms.
We know many of you have recent experience in addressing these types of hostile and hybrid actions to undermine international law in the maritime domain and we stand ready to cooperate and join your efforts to safeguard our common international order.