Anger in Iceland over incoming US ambassador’s ‘52nd state’ joke | Iceland
Thousands of people have signed a petition expressing anger after Donald Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Iceland joked that the Scandinavian country should be the 52nd state of the US.
On Wednesday, hours before senior officials from Greenland and Denmark were due to meet with the United States in a bid to ward off Trump’s threats to seize the Arctic island, news outlet Politico said it had heard thoughts of another Arctic island.
“We heard former Rep. Billy Long, Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Iceland, joked to members in the caucus room last night that Iceland would be the 52nd state and he would be governor,” Politico reported. wrote in the morning bulletin.
The reaction in Reykjavík was swift. Iceland’s foreign ministry told the Guardian it had contacted the US embassy for clarification. “The State Department contacted the U.S. embassy in Iceland to verify the accuracy of the alleged comments,” the statement said.
In a petition calling for Icelandic foreign minister Katrín Gunnarsdóttir to reject Long’s ambassadorship to the country, critics said: “These remarks made by Billy Long, Donald Trump’s appointee as ambassador to Iceland, may have been meant as a joke. Yet they are offensive to Iceland and its people, who had to fight for their freedom and have always been friends of the United States.” The petition was read.
Within hours of its launch, more than 3,200 people had signed the petition, supporting the call for the United States to “nominate another person who shows more respect for Iceland and the Icelandic people.”
On Wednesday, Long reportedly apologized for his remarks in an interview with Arctic Today, a news website covering the region. The broadcaster quoted others as saying the comments were made in jest, with Trump joking about Jeff Landry, the US special envoy to Greenland.
“There was nothing serious about it, I was with some people I hadn’t met in three years and they were joking about Jeff Landry being governor of Greenland and they started making jokes about me too and if anyone was offended by that, I’m sorry.” Long was quoted as saying in the broadcast:.
While Long said he could understand why the comments sparked a backlash, he emphasized that they were jokes and should not be taken seriously.
“I’m sorry and that’s my only comment. I look forward to working with the people of Iceland and I apologize that it was done this way. I was with a group of friends and there was nothing serious about it,” he added.
On Thursday, Icelandic lawmaker Sigmar Guðmundsson, whose centrist Liberal Reform Party is in the country’s ruling coalition, called the remarks “not a very funny joke” given tensions in Greenland.
“It goes without saying that this is extremely serious for a small country like Iceland.” he told Icelandic newspaper Morgunblaðið. “We must understand that all the security arguments Americans make about Greenland also apply to Iceland. “It’s about the location of these two islands.”
He called the comments a sign of growing disrespect for the sovereignty of small states in the United States. “Icelanders must have the courage to discuss where and how our security interests are best served in this changing world, despite our extremely friendly relations with the United States, especially through NATO.”
