Norwegian public relations expert: “The American president is acting like an elephant in a porcelain shop.”

It's high time Barack Obama learnt some manners

We here in Britain are well-aquainted with the haughty disdain with which U.S. President Barack Obama likes to treat his European allies. We might have the largest military force of any European country fighting alongside the Americans in southern Afghanistan, but that doesn’t seem to count for much at the White House, where Mr Obama’s shabby treatment of our prime minister has now become the norm. Whether it is offering him a box set of dvds, or forcing him to conduct important bilateral meetings in the kitchens of the U.N. complex in New York, Mr Obama’s charmless treatment of Gordon Brown has become a standard feature of the so-called special relationship.

But now, with his dismissive treatment of the Nobel peace prize committee, Mr Obama’s supercilious behaviour has plunged new depths. One might question why on earth the worthy souls responsible for awarding the prize decided on someone whose main claim to fame so far is simply to have got himself elected. But having accepted the award, the least Mr Obama could do would be to show the Norwegian hosts some respect. But no, Mr Obama insists on doing everything his way, even when it comes to something as banal as accepting a peace prize, and on this occasion he has managed to cause immense offence to the peace-loving Scandawegians.

First Mr Obama declines an invitation to lunch with King Harald V, the Norwegian monarch, an event every other winner, from the Dailai Lama to Al Gore, has graciously accepted. Then he announces he won’t have time to visit the Oslo Peace Centre, where the achievements of previous winners are celebrated. As one Norwegian public relations expert puts it: “The American president is acting like an elephant in a porcelain shop.” (source UK Telegraph)