Iceland's parliament has said "no" to the attempts of the country's Spanish ambassador, María Isabel Vicandi, to be present at a meeting between Catalan foreign minister Alfred Bosch and the Icelandic legislature's Foreign Affairs Committee.
In line with the policy directive of Spanish foreign minister Josep Borrell, the ambassador had tried to invite herself to the scheduled bilateral Icelandic-Catalan meeting, but Icelandic MPs refused to allow her to attend, arguing that "this would be a lack of respect for the freedoms of expression and association".
The vice president of the Icelandic committee, Rosa Björk, reportedly told the Catalan delegation about the incident. After the meeting between Bosch and the Icelandic MPs, Björk published a significant photograph on social media:
Great meeting with Catalonian Foreign Affair Minister @AlfredBosch with Icelandic Parliamentary Committee of Foreign Affairs! Last time me and Mr. Bosch met in Madrid,now in Reykjavik here in front of @Althingi, Parliament of Iceland! pic.twitter.com/WGExkeCrT0
— Rósa Björk B (@RosaBjorkB) 15 de març de 2019
This is the first time that a country has clearly disavowed the Borrell strategy directed against the Catalan government's push for international projection.
Bosch plans to hold a press conference on Saturday and, as it will be public, the ambassador will be able to attend if she so wishes.