On 17 July 2025, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, travelled to Iceland, in the context of discussion on international security and defence, trade, civil protection, emergency preparedness and climate issues.

On this occasion, she met with Kristrún Frostadóttir, Icelandic Prime Minister, with whom she went on an helicopter ride to survey the glacial retreat in south Iceland. Ursula von der Leyen also visited the Icelandic security and operational defence tasks including the Keflavik Airbase, Security Zones, Iceland Air Defence Systems, and civil protection.

This video shows extracts of the helicopter tour over the south coast of Iceland and the volcanic area around Grindavík.