Iceland opposes Paddy Ashdown as European Special Envoy for the Balkans

The sky is the limit?

The Guardian’s Ian Traynor reported yesterday that Paddy Ashdown, the former leader of the UK Liberal Democrats and international overseer of Bosnia, is in the running for the position of European special envoy for the Balkans. His appointment is likely to be discussed by the High Representative Catherine Ashton at dinner in London on Thursday night with William Hague, the UK foreign secretary.

Obviously, such an appointment would need the support of other EU member states, and runs the risk of annoying Germany, which already considers that the European diplomatic service is being dominated by Brits.

But the greatest opposition could come from an unexpected corner outside the EU: the government of Iceland has expressed its dismay at the appointment rumor. A spokesperson was quoted as saying: “Mr Ashdown was requested by our government as Special Envoy to Iceland. With all the fuss created due to the ash cloud from Eyjafjallajökull, we had been promised by the EU that they would send a Special Envoy to us first. And no one seemed more appropriate than Paddy Ashdown, as we told Ms Ashton”.

Similar opposition was voiced by sources close to Steve Jobs from Apple. It seems big plans had been made to launch a massive marketing campaign around Mr Ashdown under the tag line “Hi Pad!”.