United States presidential visits to Northern Europe

Map of Europe featuring the countries of Northern Europe (highlighted in dark green)

Seven United States presidents have made presidential visits to Northern Europe. Richard Nixon became the first incumbent president to visit a Northern European country when he went to Iceland in 1973. The first trips were an offshoot of the general easing of the geo-political tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. To date, every nation in the region has been visited at least twice: Finland (7), Denmark (4), Latvia (3), Estonia (2), Iceland (2), Norway (2), Sweden (2), and Lithuania (2).

Table of visits

President Dates Countries Locations Key details
Richard Nixon May 31 – June 1, 1973  Iceland Reykjavík Met with President Kristján Eldjárn and Prime Minister Ólafur Jóhannesson and French President Georges Pompidou.[1]
Gerald Ford July 29 – August 2, 1975  Finland Helsinki Attended opening session of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Met with the Heads of State and Government of Finland, Great Britain, Turkey, West Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Also met with Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. Signed the Final Act of the Conference.[2]
Ronald Reagan October 9–12, 1986  Iceland Reykjavík Summit meeting with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. Also met with President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir.[3]
May 25–29, 1988  Finland Helsinki Met with President Mauno Koivisto and Prime Minister Harri Holkeri.[3]
George H. W. Bush September 8–9, 1990 Summit meeting with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Issued joint statement on the Persian Gulf crisis. Also met with President Mauno Koivisto.[4]
July 8–10, 1992 Attended Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe summit meeting.[4]
Bill Clinton July 6, 1994  Latvia Riga Met with the presidents of the Baltic states.[5]
March 20–21, 1997  Finland Helsinki Summit meeting with Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Also met with President Martti Ahtisaari.[5]
July 11–12, 1997  Denmark Copenhagen Met with Queen Margrethe II and Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen.[5]
November 1–2, 1999  Norway Oslo State visit. Held discussions with Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik[6] Attended commemorative ceremony for former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Met with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin;[5] also met with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Ehud Barak of Israel.[7]
George W. Bush June 14–15, 2001  Sweden Gothenburg Attended U.S.-European Union Summit Meeting. Met with King Carl XVI Gustaf and Prime Minister Göran Persson.[8]
November 22–23, 2002  Lithuania Vilnius Met with the presidents of the Baltic states.[8] Gave a historic speech in the Town Hall Square "Anyone who would choose Lithuania as an enemy has also made an enemy of the United States of America."[9]
May 6–7, 2005  Latvia Riga Met with the presidents of the Baltic states.[8]
July 5–6, 2005  Denmark Kastrup, Fredensborg, Copenhagen Met with Queen Margrethe II and Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen.[8]
November 27–28, 2006  Estonia Tallinn Met with President Toomas Hendrik Ilves.[8]
November 28–29, 2006  Latvia Riga Attended the 19th NATO Summit Meeting.[8]
Barack Obama October 2, 2009  Denmark Copenhagen Met with Queen Margrethe II and Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. Attended the 13th Olympic Congress meeting to lobby for Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.[10]
December 9–11, 2009  Norway Oslo Met with King Harald V and Queen Sonja. Received the Nobel Peace Prize.[10]
December 17–19, 2009  Denmark Copenhagen Attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009.[10]
September 4–5, 2013  Sweden Stockholm Met with King Carl XVI Gustaf and Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. Also met with leaders of the Nordic countries. Attended an event honoring Raoul Wallenberg at the Great Synagogue of Stockholm.[10]
September 3–4, 2014  Estonia Tallinn Met with the presidents of the Baltic states. Visited U.S. and Estonian members of the military. Delivered a speech at Tallinn Airport with Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas.
Donald Trump July 15–16, 2018  Finland Helsinki Attended the summit meeting with the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Also met with President Sauli Niinistö.
Joe Biden July 10-12, 2023  Lithuania Vilnius Attended the 2023 NATO Summit, met with the Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.
July 12-13, 2023  Finland Helsinki Attended the U.S.–Nordic Leaders' Summit. Met with President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Travels of President Richard M. Nixon". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  2. ^ "Travels of President Gerald R. Ford". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  3. ^ a b "Travels of President Ronald Reagan". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  4. ^ a b "Travels of President George H. W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  5. ^ a b c d "Travels of President William J. Clinton". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  6. ^ "Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book II), Joint Statement by President Clinton and Prime Minister Kjell Bondevik". gpo.gov. U.S. Government Printing Office. November 1, 1999. p. 1946. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  7. ^ "Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book II), Remarks Following Discussions With Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Authority and Prime Minister Ehud Barak of Israel". gpo.gov. U.S. Government Printing Office. November 2, 1999. pp. 1951–1952. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Travels of President George W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  9. ^ SCHLEE, MAXIME (August 30, 2018). "George W. Bush named honorary citizen of Vilnius". Politico.
  10. ^ a b c d "Travels of President Barack Obama". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.