Johanna Sigurdardottir, Iceland’s Prime Minister, says that there was no secrecy surrounding her meeting on Thursday with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
The PM said that she talked with him at December’s climate summit in Copenhagen and at the time it was decided that they would meet in Brussels in February, and this was made public immediately – but it was not widely reported, she explained.
“I have just been talking with the foreign media now,” Sigurdardottir told Visir.is by telephone on Thursday immediately after the meeting – apparently disproving claims that she did not intend to speak to the press in Brussels.
Vigdis Hauksdottir, an MP for the Progressive Party, said in parliament that the Prime Minister had insulted the nation by being so secretive about her meeting with Barroso and EU expansion chief Olli Rehn. She added that only the leader of an Asian military dictatorship could realistically have expected to evade the media the way Sigurdardottir had hoped to.
The European Commission will decide on the 24th February whether Iceland is fit to continue its EU application further. Johanna Sigurdardottir said she feels positive after her meeting in Brussels that Iceland’s application will be accepted.
“only the leader of an Asian military dictatorship”
LOL. Reykyavik may be a totalitarian dictatorship under military rule by Kim Jong-Sigurdardottir but, to the east of Iceland’s demilitarised zone, a small band of revolutionaries living in the mountains keep a dream alive that open democracy may one day return to their country.
To all Parliamentarians, in behalf of the majority in Iceland, please be fair and open with your dealings, no more secrecy as you are acting in your Official Capacity, that is to say, that the expenses incurred on the said trips is from the draining treasury of the nation with less that 300,000 pupolation and GDP much lesser than before. We do not know how long the Icesave is resolve and what other problems may occur but hopefully, until then, we will all be alive to see the positive result. Recovery ?
This is just the way Jóhanna and other old hard left folk do go about they business.
They just do not know any better.
It strikes me again how “confident” the PM always is when she states what actions “would harm our position to get into the EU”, or now that is is “confiednt that the applicaiotn into EU will be accepted”, and so on, and so on…has she ever looked into the opinion of her employer, the icelandic people? Am I totally wrong or are still a good mayority agains the EU memebrship? What planet is she living on?
Please, please please…take this warning from your southern neighbour – Watch this woman like a hawk. When Britain joined in the 1970s, our Prime Minister, Edward Heath, surrendered all our fishing grounds with one stroke of a pen. This had never been debated by our Parliament and is widely seen here as an act of treason by Heath against the British nation. The EU will do the same to you if they get the chance – then, as your fishing fleets are made redundant, your borders will be opened so that cheap Eastern European (and later, Turkish) workers can take the jobs in your fish-processing factories.
Be warned. The docks at Fleetwood and Grimsby are empty. All the fishing boats are long gone. Join the EU and this will undoubtedly be your fate.
Join the EU and this will undoubtedly be your fate.
Seems unlikely as, given that fishing is vastly more important to Iceland than it was to the UK and given that the majority of Icelanders have consistently polled as being against joining, Iceland simply won’t join without a decent opt-out on the CFP.
“When Britain joined in the 1970s, our Prime Minister, Edward Heath, surrendered all our fishing grounds with one stroke of a pen”
Its strange that Britain never declared 200 nautical miles zone as Iceland did as it has become a international standard.
“The docks at Fleetwood and Grimsby are empty. All the fishing boats are long go”
We export a large part of our fish from Iceland fresh to Grimsby and Hull to be processed there, so as long as we stay out of the EU we will continue to do that, unless of course if we get kicked out of the EEA, which will probably not happen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIVPkbYV0CI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKjEbz7eVh4&feature=SeriesPlayList&p=090B84BB67A96925
>has she ever looked into the opinion of her employer, the icelandic people?
This is just not the way of this hard left three parties that came together to form the Social Democrats. They are very opportunisticic.
>What planet is she living on?
Well she is in orbit where the planet was in 1978.
Rest of us are here in 2010.
She left the majority Icelandic people the moment she did accept the Prime Ministry and form this first unrestratined hard Left govenrment we have ever had here in Iceland.
The Social Democrat voters repsent less than 30% of Icelander voters.
They have nothing close to mandate for they policies in office, as the Left – Greens led by Steingrímur J. Sigfússon have opposite ideas to them in most areas that matter. ( Although you would never know it by the way he has acted in office ).
“She left the majority Icelandic people the moment she did accept the Prime Ministry and form this first unrestratined hard Left govenrment we have ever had here in Iceland.”
Because your party did such a good job of bring the country to its knees. You haven’t forgotten about that have you?
Axel:
“We export a large part of our fish from Iceland fresh to Grimsby and Hull to be processed there, so as long as we stay out of the EU we will continue to do that, unless of course if we get kicked out of the EEA, which will probably not happen”
Iceland will pay its debts so it will be able to stay in the EEA. The question is whether the loan to do so comes from Norway, UK/NL or from the free market.
However, I suspect the EEA has a limited life span. Iceland has demonstrated that it can be abused and it has no benefit for the EU. The EU should dump it and tell the EEA members to join the EU or **** off.