Pineapple on pizza? Iceland’s president forced to clarify controversial position after suggesting it should be banned
Guðni has enjoyed huge popularity since his election last June, buoyed by his decision to refuse a 20 per cent pay rise
Faced with uproar at home and a social media storm abroad, the president of Iceland has been forced to clarify his outspoken stance on one of the defining questions of the age: whether pineapple should be allowed on pizza.
Last week, answering questions from pupils at a high school in Akureyri, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson said his favourite football team was Manchester United and he was “fundamentally opposed” to pineapple on pizzas.
For pizzas, I recommend seafood
The president then went further, saying that if he could, he would ban the tropical fruit as a pizza topping if he could. Understandably, Twitter and half the world’s online media went into overdrive.
On Tuesday, a statement in English and Icelandic on his Facebook page titled “A Statement on the Pizza Controversy”, clarified his stance, saying he liked pineapple just not on his pizzas – and could not stop people who did like putting it on theirs.
“I do not have the power to make laws which forbid people to put pineapples on their pizza,” Guðni, a former history professor at the University of Iceland, wrote. “I am glad I do not hold such power.”
Presidents should “not have unlimited power”, he continued. “I would not want to hold this position if I could pass laws forbidding that which I don’t like. I would not want to live in such a country. For pizzas, I recommend seafood.”