Ólafur calls foreign minister’s remarks absurd and dishonest

Former Icelandic president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson has rejected Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir’s claim that he supported the views of Russia’s foreign minister. He called her remarks about him “absurd and dishonest” in an interview with mbl.is.

In an interview with Páll Magnússon on Bylgjan’s Sprengisandur programme on Sunday, Þorgerður said she was concerned about what she called “Russia-coddling” in Icelandic society. She criticised Ólafur in particular for backing Sergei Lavrov’s arguments about NATO’s actions in the Arctic.

Ólafur shared an article by Lavrov on X on August 31. In it, Lavrov criticised increased NATO military activity in the Arctic, including the Arctic Sentry surveillance operation launched by the alliance in February, and said it posed a direct threat to Russia’s security.

Ólafur said he had drawn attention in recent months and years to key documents on the international stage, including Lavrov’s article, but that this did not mean he supported everything they contained. He said foreign policy should be shaped through careful, honest work based on thorough research.

“I have never viewed foreign affairs like handball, where fast breaks are the main thing,” Ólafur said. He added that Iceland’s foreign policy should be thoughtful, substantive and modest, rather than based on “catchphrases and fast breaks.”