Snorri Másson calls foreign minister unfit to handle Iceland’s affairs

Centre Party deputy leader Snorri Másson said Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir was unfit to handle Iceland’s affairs, mbl.is reported. He made the remarks in a speech to Alþingi, Iceland’s parliament, on Tuesday.

Másson said Viðreisn had lost its main policy goal, Iceland’s membership of the European Union, and argued that Gunnarsdóttir could not be trusted to defend Iceland’s interests, particularly in dealings with the EU. He also accused her of refusing to defend the country in the debate over Protocol 35.

He referred to what he described as difficulties within Viðreisn after the party failed to advance its EU membership policy, and mentioned Jón Gnarr’s departure from the party’s parliamentary group.

Másson also criticised Justice Minister Þorbjörg Sigríður Gunnlaugsdóttir over immigration policy. He said she was not taking necessary steps, including closing the asylum system and deporting people who no longer had the right to remain in Iceland.

He accused the foreign minister of undermining the limited changes the justice minister was prepared to make. As an example, he referred to a dispute before Christmas that he said had disrupted Iceland’s Schengen border controls in an effort to issue more visas to people from Africa and Asia. He called this a form of “political carbon offsetting”.

Másson also said the Foreign Ministry appeared to have ample money, citing 150 million Icelandic krónur for queer organisations in the United States.