“As we say in Iceland: ‘jump into the deep pool’ and challenge yourself.”

 

Ambassador ANNA JÓHANNSDÓTTIR represents Iceland at NATO headquarters in Brussels. She has previously served as Foreign Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister of Iceland and to Iceland’s Ambassador to Palestine. She was Director of the EU Department at the Iceland Ministry for Foreign Affairs and has lead the Iceland Crisis Response Unit, deployment of personnel to  NATO, UN, EU and Nordic missions, and coordinating Iceland’s international crisis and peace operations.

The Ambassador was also Counsellor in the Permanent Mission of Iceland in Geneva where her main responsibilities were overseeing free trade negotiations and international trade agreements, as well as human rights and humanitarian issues within international organizations in Geneva. Prior to this, she was  First Secretary, External Trade Department at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs where she was an advocate for Iceland to the EFTA Court in several cases.

For the first chapter of her career, the Ambassador was an Attorney to the District Court, GAJ Law Firm Ltd. She holds a law degree from the University of Iceland (Candidatus juris, 1994), a masters degree in European Law from the University of Edinburgh (L.L.M. 2000), and a masters degree in Public Administration from the University of Iceland (2015).