Obama Plan to Skip Some Nobel Events Riles Norway

President nixes traditional activities like lunch with king
By Will McCahill,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 9, 2009 10:14 PM CST
Obama Plan to Skip Some Nobel Events Riles Norway
Norwegian Karsten Madsen holds an American flag and a cardboard cutout of President Obama in Oslo today.   (AP Photo)

While perhaps it’s a bit much to expect President Obama to attend a kiddie peace presentation while he’s in Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, the fact that Obama begged off lunch with King Harald—and a host of other Nobel-related events—has Norwegians fuming. The Norwegian Nobel Committee knew Obama, taking a brief detour from US politics, would skip the small stuff, but feathers remain ruffled.

“Of all the things he is canceling, I think the worst is canceling the lunch with the king,” the leader of the country’s largest opposition party tells tabloid VG. “This is a central part of our government system. He should respect the monarchy.”
(More President Obama stories.)

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