The German ambassador to Iceland wrote a scathing open letter to “the main editor of Morgunblaðið”, in response to an editorial column the paper ran accusing the EU of mixing itself in Iceland’s domestic affairs.
The editorial in question was published in the May 14 edition of Morgunblaðið, and accused the EU ambassador to Iceland of getting overly involved in Icelandic domestic affairs, thereby violating the law regarding the extent to which an ambassador can exert policy influence.
Hermann Sausen, the Germany ambassador to Iceland, was less than pleased with this point of view, Vísir reports, writing an open letter to “the main editor of Morgunblaðið” – i.e. Davíð Oddsson – which the paper printed.
Sausen argues that there is nothing wrong with an EU ambassador touting the virtues of being a part of the organisation, and that it is the media’s job to report to the general public all the facts – both the pros and the cons – of accession. He added that it is not, contrary to what the Morgunblaðið editorial contends – the policy of the EU to force Iceland to give up its sovereignty or nationality, but rather “to be part of a democratic organisation of sovereign, democratic nations.”
“That such an accusation should come from the editor of a respected newspaper,” Sausen writes, “in a stable, democratic country like Iceland, which has close connections to the European Union, makes [the column] that much more inexplicable and antagonistic.”
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