Iceland leaders condemn Trump post as insult to sovereignty

Iceland’s foreign minister and prime minister have condemned a social media post by US President Donald Trump that depicted Iceland, Greenland, Canada, Mexico and other countries in the colours of the US flag, mbl.is reported.

Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir said that if the post was intended as a joke, it was a poor one. Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir described its undertone as absurd and an insult to Icelanders.

The two government leaders discussed the post with journalists at a briefing on the government’s priorities for the winter. Gunnarsdóttir said she had summoned Billy Long, the US ambassador to Iceland, to a meeting on Monday.

“It was completely inappropriate,” Gunnarsdóttir said. She added that Iceland should not take the current US president literally, but should take him seriously.

“Iceland is sovereign. It is an independent state that is responsible for its own destiny,” she said. “No one else can handle or manipulate our independence or sovereignty. We do that on our own terms.”

Gunnarsdóttir also stressed that Iceland would continue to support Greenland and its right to determine its own future.

“This is not a joke in my view, and if it is meant to be a joke, it is a poor joke,” she said, adding that she had clearly conveyed Iceland’s position to the ambassador. She said the rest of their conversation had been good and that she looked forward to continuing to work with the United States on various issues.

Frostadóttir supported the foreign minister’s comments.

“The undertone heard here is absurd, and it is an insult to Icelanders, Canadians and Greenlanders to speak in this way,” she said. “There is nothing funny or normal about making fun of the sovereignty of states, especially today, when sovereignty cannot be taken for granted.”

Frostadóttir said she had not noticed any problems in her day-to-day dealings with the United States, but added that the circumstances in this part of the world were not normal and that Icelanders needed to stand firm.