From Iceland — Iceland Reps At Euro Council Divided On Russia

Iceland Reps At Euro Council Divided On Russia

Published April 15, 2014

Andie Sophia Fontaine
Photo by
Paul Fontaine

The Icelandic representatives on the European Council (EC) were not in complete agreement over what action the EC should take regarding Russia and Ukraine.

Karl Garðarsson, the president of Iceland’s representation at the EC, told RÚV that opinions were divided over the matter. “The British put forward that Russia should be expelled from the council altogether,” he said. “In response, Russia said that if they did leave, they would not necessarily come back.”

While ultimately, 140 council representatives voted to repeal Russia’s voting right on the council, amongst the 16 who voted against the motion was Left-Green MP Ögmundur Jónasson.

Ögmundur told reporters that he did not consider it right to evict a member country from the EC, saying that the official report regarding the Crimea was one-sided. He also said the general tone of those voting in favour of kicking Russia out reminded him of the Cold War.

“The word choice and the modes of expression was something you heard about 30 to 40 years ago,” he said.

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