Helgi Hjörvar elected President of the Nordic Council
Helgi Hjörvar MP (Iceland) was elected President of the Nordic Council at the annual Session in Stockholm on Thursday. Hjörvar, born 1967, was elected to the Icelandic parliament (the Althing) in 2003. He represents the Social Democrats, and became a member of the Nordic Council in 2007. Hjörvar has also been the chair of the Icelandic delegation to the Nordic Council this year.
He succeeds Sinikka Bohlin (Sweden) at the end of the year when it becomes the turn of Iceland to chair the Council.
The new president believes that Nordic co-operation is more important than ever, especially in the wake of the financial crisis. The fact that so many top politicians are part of the Icelandic delegation to the Council also proves how highly Nordic co-operation is prioritised.
According to Hjörvar it is important that the Council focuses on issues that citizens consider key, e.g. security.
"As president I will focus on security in the broadest sense – combating organised crime and trafficking – as well as on the economy, the climate and more traditional security issues as per the contents of the Stoltenberg Report," he explains.
Marine issues are also important to the new president, e.g. fisheries policy, the Arctic and the Baltic. Hjörvar will also focus on cultural and language issues, as well as cross-border freedom of movement. A very personal obstacle to cross-border freedom of movement is encountered by Hjörvar's guide dog, the labrador Mr X.
"He can't come with me on tips around the Region. If he did, he would have to spend a month in quarantine on our return," explains Hjörvar, who is married and has three daughters.
Hjörvar studied philosophy at the University of Iceland in the early 90s. He became MD of the National Association for the Blind and chaired Reykjavik Council before he was elected to Parliament. Hjörvar is interested in culture, especially literature and the theatre, and likes to run in the great Icelandic outdoors.
Illugi Gunnarsson of the Icelandic Independence Party was elected Vice President. Gunnarsson, born in 1967, succeeds Kent Olsson. Gunnarsson was elected to the Althing in 2007 and has been a member of the Icelandic delegation to the Nordic Council since 2009.
unnarsson, who studied economics in London, also sees security as a key theme for 2010. He has previously worked as political adviser to the former Prime Minister Davíð Oddsson.
