Minister of Foreign Affairs Össur Skarphéðinsson told RÚV that he is demanding an explanation for how confidential US embassy profiles of himself and the Prime Minister managed to leak to the press.
Part of the minister’s outrage is no doubt because, as he told reporters, that he finds it inappropriate that foreign offices would have confidential documents on Icelandic politicians, and that they would leak them to the media.
The profile says in part, “US diplomats said in 1993 that he did not take himself too seriously and that he liked to present himself as an academic who had drifted into politics.” Unfortunately, this has been translated in the Icelandic media to say “He doesn’t take himself seriously,” which of course means something else entirely.
The profile also says that his efforts to get Iceland into the EU will be hampered by the Leftist-Greens, and that “he frequently takes dramatic foreign policy stances, some of which conflict with US policy.”
It’s actually not an unflattering portrait of the guy. If you want to read the whole thing, it’s available here.