Iceland and Poland deepen ties through travel and cooperation

Relations between Iceland and Poland have strengthened in recent years, with about 60,000 passengers travelling between Keflavik and Warsaw on LOT Polish Airlines during the route’s first year, mbl.is reported. The airline, Poland’s largest, began flights in April 2025.

Aleksander Kropiwnicki, head of Poland’s embassy in Iceland, told the newspaper that LOT’s arrival increased the number of travellers between the countries rather than simply shifting passengers from other airlines. Flights are usually full or nearly full, he said. Wizz Air had previously operated direct flights between Iceland and several Polish cities, including Warsaw.

Kropiwnicki said air links were one part of broader growth in relations, alongside a larger Polish community in Iceland, increased contact between officials and expanding cooperation in culture, science and business.

He pointed to Icelandic Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir’s visit to Poland in February, when she met her Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk. They discussed economic cooperation and European security. At a news conference, Tusk gave Frostadóttir a box of Prince Polo chocolate wafers, a popular treat in Iceland. She said she had grown up eating them, as many Icelanders had.

Visits by officials from both countries have become more frequent, Kropiwnicki said, though there remains room to develop economic cooperation. He also described Iceland as closely connected to European cooperation through Schengen, the European Economic Area, security and defence ties with the European Union, and the two countries’ membership of NATO. He said the relationship was part of a wider European context, particularly as security has risen on the continent’s agenda, and that Iceland’s new defence and security policy strengthened its voice internationally.

Many travellers are Poles living in Iceland who return home to visit family. Others travel for conferences, cultural events and scientific work. Kropiwnicki also mentioned Nobel Prize-winning author Olga Tokarczuk, who visited Iceland to receive the Halldór Laxness International Literary Prize.

Statistics Iceland counted 23,055 immigrants born in Poland at the start of the year. Kropiwnicki estimated the Polish community in Iceland more broadly at close to 30,000 people, a figure Polish officials have also used for several years. That would represent about 7.6 per cent of Iceland’s population.