“I will miss Sámur more than I will miss Ólafur. Ólafur can come and visit me but Sámur canʼt visit me and then return to here.”
– First Lady Dorrit Moussaieff on RÚV TV news, June 16, 2013
As it is a breach of Icelandic law for couples to have separate legal residencies, many questions arose when it was discovered that Dorrit had moved her legal residence to London. When asked, Dorrit said it had to do with taking greater responsibility in running her family’s jewellery business. Her parents, she said, were getting old and if she was going to take over the business, British law required that she have legal residence there (apparently not as bad as breaking Icelandic law?).
While the reporter moved on to interview the president, Dorrit interrupted twice, once to ask him what he meant by agreeing that it would be “eðlilegt” (“normal”) for her to have residency in Iceland and another time to correct him when he said Dorritʼs mother was almost 85 years old, when apparently she’s merely 84(!). President Ólafur showed what a pro he is, not so much as blinking an eye as his wife swiftly moved from his right side to the left, then stepped behind him and shouting “Sámur, NO!” before running out of the frame. Ólafur just kept his cool and finished the interview calmly. Sámur is the couple’s dog, which Dorrit then stated she’d miss more than her husband, as animals canʼt travel back and forth from Iceland for health cautionary regulations. If this was a ploy, it worked! Who cares now where Dorrit lives or lives not? We want to know who’s getting Sámur.
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“The EU took part in trying to coerce Icelanders into taking on a massive financial burden, against the law. Then the union, for the first time in its history, got involved in a court case against Iceland. Now, the EU needs to show that it’s a Union based on law and equality, not the power, size and interest of the big players.”
– Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, National Day speech in Reykjavík, June 17, 2013
On Icelandʼs National Day, the newly elected prime minister talked about independence, the Icelandic language, Icelandic heritage AND Icesave. Yup, Iceland—best in the world! Sigmundur has obviously not forgotten about the Icesave dispute and his first June 17 speech was inspired by Icelandʼs long history of fighting for the right to make its own decisions and protect its interests above anything. Not that he was gloating, but he’s learly pretty happy about the EFTA ruling, and has some serious issues with the EU.
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“What an unbelievably cheap comment. If this is your marketing method, I’m not sure I´ll ever buy Gunnars mayonnaise ever again, even though I’ve really liked it until now.”
– Hannes Hólmsteinn Gissurarson, professor of political science at the University of Iceland interviewed by DV, June 6, 2013
Gunnars is a long established family-owned business that produces mayonnaise and various kinds of mayo-based sauces. When a woman called Helen Gunnarsdóttir commented on a news story on DV.is, declaring that
former Prime Minister Davíð Oddsson had hit rock bottom with mud smearing, Hannes stepped in to stand up for his pal. Only, he mistook Helen for a member of the Gunnars clan and got so upset by her comment that he was obviously ready to sacrifice the pleasures of yummie mayonnaise to show his support for the former PM/Central Bank manager turned editor of Morgunblaðið.
Helen’s comment was in response to a news story about the contents of the section Reykjavíkurbréf, “Reykjavík letter” in Morgunblaðið, where former Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was said to have bid good morning to only one staff member at her ministry. Dozens of readers commented on the story as well as Helen, who quickly tried to calm the professor down and correct the misunderstanding by clarifying in another comment: “I have no relations to the mayonnaise company!” Hopefully she managed to save the mayo business ʼcause we all luv Gunnars mayonnaise.
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