Hannes praises Ólafur Ragnar as Össur attacks critics

Hannes Hólmsteinn Gissurarson, professor emeritus, has praised former Icelandic president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson for his role in the referendum campaign, while accusing former foreign minister Össur Skarphéðinsson of trying to divert attention from Ólafur’s victory, mbl.is reported.

Speaking on mbl.is’s Spursmál programme, Hannes discussed the response from supporters of Iceland joining the European Union after the referendum. Össur has recently criticised Hannes, including by suggesting that he has become a useful innocent for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Hannes dismissed the attacks and said Össur was trying to draw attention away from comments he had made about his “old foster-brother”, Ólafur Ragnar, before the referendum.

According to Hannes, Össur had argued that Ólafur Ragnar had put his political legacy on the line in the vote. A defeat would have left that legacy meagre, while a victory would have been a major achievement. Hannes said Össur had since stopped discussing the issue.

“He cannot bring himself to grant his old foster-brother, his old friend, that his victory was a major one. That is why he is simply diverting attention from it by attacking various others,” Hannes said.

When the programme’s host suggested that this might be a shrewd tactic because Össur was “a fox in these matters”, Hannes replied: “No, listen, everyone sees right through Össur. You don’t need to worry about that.”

Hannes said Ólafur Ragnar had been a long-standing political opponent of his and that he was not known as a supporter of the former president. Nevertheless, he said Ólafur deserved praise for his conduct during the campaign.

“He performed exceptionally well in this campaign,” Hannes said, adding that he believed Ólafur’s position had been sincere. Hannes said Ólafur had no personal gain to obtain from taking part, having already reached the highest level of public prominence available to him.

Looking back at Ólafur’s political career, Hannes said he saw a consistent theme. Ólafur had always been associated with the youth movement, whose slogan was “Iceland above all”. He had also been a disciple of Jónas from Hrifla, whom Hannes described as a fervent patriot despite all his shortcomings.

“I take my hat off to Ólafur, and I say what Össur has not been willing to say: it was a major victory for him to step forward in this way,” Hannes said.