Inuit Brotherhood, the Greenlandic political party, is calling on parliament to follow in the steps of the other territories of the Danish kingdom and issue a loan to Iceland, Sermitsiak reported.
Following the agreements for a loan to Iceland from Denmark and Norway, 200 million EUR each, and the expected approval of the Faroese parliament to lend 300 million Danish kroner (45 million EUR), the Greenlandic politician Josef Motzfeldt says he will press parliament’s Finance Committee to approve a loan.
‘A friend in need is a friend in deed,’ said Motzfeldt, currently attending a meeting of the Nordic Council in Helsinki. ‘And right now, Iceland is in dire need.’
Motzfeldt recognised that Greenland was running a budget deficit, but said he believed it was possible to make cuts that would free up enough money for it to equal the Faroese loan of 300 million Danish kroner.
[…] Greenland to the aid of its North Atlantic neighbour […]
Steve
An alternative future maybe.. 10-20% reduction in population due to immigration. Hyperinflation. A fall in GDP of 50%. A massive reduction in public spending on healthcare, education and a stagnating economy for the next 20 years due to a massive tax burden and lack of investment.
Iceland has a fundamental lack of resources – and people can simply leave.
I have enjoyed your blog. I felt like interjected my 2 cents on what little I know.
Looking back into the Icelandic history (Icelandic Sagas) and applying it to today……The culture of Icelandic will continue because their society is strong. They will endure this economic disaster just as they have over history. This will fade away with time. Iceland people rank amoung the top 5, with almost 97% literacy, with an incrediable % (check my figures please), 80%+ post graduate. Icelanders will figure out the solutions to their current problems and be strong finacially much faster than most will give them credit.
These are only my opinions after working 1999-2007 for an Icelandic company (Seafood) and under the supervision of a native Icelander with dual citizenship in the states. Skol
bc123a you just answered my point, narrow minded.
Nearly most countries are in this mess and you are telling me that the governments did not know what was going on!!
Even mr Brown was told off this 6 months ago.
I dont know anybody who voted Brown into power he was appointed in by his party.[ who i did not vote for anyway] So therefore I have to pay for his misstakes is that what you are tring to say?
black jack 1,
cmon.
There is a think, called “an election” in democratic countries, you know.
People choose who will rule their country, you know.
Average person in Iceland willingly played this ponzi scheme, as they were reaping heavy benefits from the actions of their banks, their tycoons, and their politicians.
Where do you thing the average icelander’s wealth has come? Mainland europe watched in awe, how “rich” icelanders suddenly were. How many mobile phones per person, how many cars, how expensive cars, expensive bars, expensive shopping trips they can afford.
Yes, average icelander has willingly participated in this scheme. It gave them wealth and best standard of living.
Now the payment has come due, and it is a big bill to pay.
Why blame the average person for a counties dept when not everyone voted for the govorment in the first place. Who really controls counties anyway not the people. But they have to suffer. Another point some people in this furum should get their facts right before blaming others just narrow minded idiots!!!
Probably a way out for Icelanders from their corrupt politic and bank system.
The only way?
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/6bae1468-a6ac-11dd-95be-000077b07658,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F6bae1468-a6ac-11dd-95be-000077b07658.html&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fworld%2Feurope
From SPAIN is right.
Human nature sealed our downfall.
The world has failed at the deepest level.
If fate frowns, we all will perish.
I know icelanders will do, and my desire is: ‘ I hope very soon ‘ ; for that reason, I will prefer a rebuild of your economic and finance systems with outer aid.
from SPAIN
you are right in your previous post, what you are saying applyes to all the countrys except Faroe islands, they are people like us, they have relyed on the sea for centurys like we have, there is a old joke that says that Farao islanders are Icelandic vikings that were put ashore on the islands because they were seasick :)
they call us a brother nation, no one else
there is a special relationship between us, and has been for longer than anyone can remember,
i know we are in trouble, someone said we could go back in time some 30 years, if that happens we will deal with it, when something like this happens you learn to appreciate what matters in your life,
and its not about money or numbers, its about family and friendship,
life wasnt so bad 30 years ago, in some ways it was even better,
we can rebuild our country, with or without outside help, and we will.
Trust is very fragile and once broken it is very
difficult or even impossible to restore.
As an Icesave depositor I know where I stand.
As for Greenland: it’s good of them to offer the money, but equally it would be good of Iceland to gently decline it.
(Sorry, this is my comment on the Greenland article. I just got sidetracked by all the ridiculous “Icelanders are criminals” insinuations in some of the other comments above).
Icelandic banks: culpable
Icelandic government: culpable to a degree
Icelandic people: not culpable
Sure, Icelandic people elected the Icelandic government, but British people elected the British government too. It doesn’t mean they foresaw or agreed to the all things that the government would do in office. And on top of that, politicians are to truth what Uri Geller is (supposedly) to spoons.
Whether or not Icelandic people themselves have been racking up credit card debt and/or taking out risky loans AS INDIVIDUALS is a completely different issue. What’s more, for British people to criticise Icelanders for this is hypocritical, as this is exactly what we have been doing in Britain too.
Wait a second. Those “high risk” accounts were standard savings accounts with a private bank **that was guaranteed to the tune of 20k euros per account by the government**.
That last part is important. Without that, few private individuals would have deposited with the bank. I’d guess that few organisations/insitutions would have as well, although they’re not covered by the guarantee. It’s a confidence issue.
I do feel sorry for the Icelandic people. I do not feel sorry for the Icelandic government that seems to think it can say that it would like to pay the money whilst also saying that it can’t AND at the same time is bitching about being set upon instead of negotiating in good faith.
This will, to my mind, count as a default on the national debt. It will be interesting to see if that’s how it is perceived – the Icelandic government may yet find a clause that allows it to avoid the guarantee.
You may think you have the truth, But it’s one sided.
Those companies were private, and people are blaming the population for it, and they will pay the price, just as the population you are seeing in trouble for investing their money in high risk acccounts of a private company.
Destroy a nation?…you got it Sir.
You should know my friend, a lot of people still believe in Dwarfs, typically Iceland’s Elf School!
It is nice to live in innocence and ignorance when things go nice. But when the nightmare comes, you attack whatever you can and the others, are always uglier than you…
To Axel,
Moral support has little value if, step behind, economic aid is not present, and this is what Iceland does need now, and quickly.
If my neighbors have shine sun days, I will have shine sun days; commercial, economic, diplomatic relations will be days of shine sun; if my neighbors have a storm, nervousness and danger will blow to me. Do you understand ?
Smooth relations with south neighbor for years; as soon as storm came in Iceland, storm was present in UK: diplomatic, commercial, economic relations. And little storms were present in other lands, though these have not said a word yet: brothers, cousins, …
What really amazes me is the arrogance of some of the writers; I hope you’ll never find yourself in “shity” situation. It’s so narrow minded to blame the whole nation for the acts of a few. Sadly it’s the whole nation that will pay for it for a really long time.
It’s not always about the monye or the amount of the money, it’s the idea that counts!
And no, I’m not from Iceland or an expat either.
I think it’s cute..
Well – I suppose it’s a natural reaction to ‘huddle’ together when the weather is nasty. But as with STD – it may not be wise to cuddle up to Iceland – infected and in denial!
You are wrong from SPAIN
Faroe Islands collected a large sum of money and gave to Iceland to rebuild 2 villages, Flateyri and Sudavik vhen they were both hit by avalances
in 1995, at the time Farao Islands were going thru the worst finacial crisis they have ever seen,
it was very much apreciated by the Icelandic nation and the people that survived this,
they also helped when lava and ashes sank the town of Vestman islands in 1973
they have never asked for anything in return,
in a time like this moral support is worth more than any amount of money,
what Greenland is doing is to remind us that they are our friends, something to be thankful for.
Why should Greenland pay your excessive debts and consumption? PAY YOUR DEBTS, ICELANDERS!
[…] full story >>> […]
There is no country in the Earth giving money unless its profits are in the air. Any country – Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, E.U., USA – or region – Greenland, Faeroe – giving money to Iceland, is so that it has interests to defend, now or in the future.
There are no feelings in the money; there is no romanticism in the budgets: numbers have no charity.
Wow!Russia,Imf,Denmark,Faroe Islands,Greenland -whos next, Zimbabwe?
Where is that testosterone filled ” I am Icelandic”arrogance now-which is very evident in the streets of Reykjavik at 1 in the morning.You people seem to be like fallen royalty with your tail between your legs!Its is your stupid greed that got you into this mess.
I hope you guys wake up and smell the coffe now!!
And stop trying to shift the blame to your goverment to the UK,the next thing you know is that you will be blaming this economic crisis on global warming!.This is your fault ,as a nation.
Copenhagen send Greenland DKK 3billion every year to float their boat, under those conditions I think I would be unappropriate to start lending huge sums of money.
Koben
its easy they found Diamonds over there
Koben: I agree, it is worrying isn’t it? That will probably take Iceland hundreds of years to pay back their debts, becuase they will owe mony to every nation by the end of this year! The best option, I think, is to ask one of these super rich Arab Gulf countries to buy the whole Iceland alltogether. In this case there will be no debt to worry about! It will be The new Iceland Arab Emarat
Motzfeldt should take care of the social situation in his own country, before concidering lending any money to Iceland.
Supposedly, Greenland feels slightly under pressure after the loan from the Faroese islands. Anyway, I think Greenland should look after its own deficit however well-intentioned the offer may be.
Iceland should turn to its large Scandinavian neighbours for help – both financially and in terms of expertise.
This is just ridiculous. How on earth can Greenland can afford lending money to Iceland?