Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, the President of Iceland, stated in an interview with Wall Street Journal, that Gordon Brown, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, should apologise to Icelanders for actions he took in October 2008.
“If Gordon Brown wants to be an honorable man, he should apologise for telling the world that Iceland is a bankrupt country,” said Grimsson.
Brown’s actions did very little to help Iceland’s situation, foreign companies ceased dealing with Icelandic counterparts, and the IMF considered withholding a portion of its bailout package.
In addition to Grimsson’s opinion on Brown’s actions, the interview also focuses on the Icesave issue and his decision to refuse the Icesave Act approval in January 2010. Grimsson explained that from a political and constitutional point of view, it was the most important decision he has made during his career and that it consequently saved Iceland’s taxpayers a lot of money.
Additionally, the interview also discusses Iceland’s negotiations with the European Union. Grimsson said the main reason why Iceland applied for EU membership was due to the fact that after the collapse of its banking system, it seemed impossible in the long run for the country to keep its own currency.
However, Grimsson continued, “We’ve seen euro-zone countries moving from one crisis to another. That has changed the picture.” He said it must be possible for Iceland to join the European Union without adopting the euro, and referred to Poland and Denmark as examples.
To read the full interview, click here.
I really gotta join the shuttie choir.
Regardless of your feelings towards Gordon Brown, you can’t expect him to apologize for anything regarding this particular case.
What he said wasn’t untrue. It might have been a bit harsh, but it’s childish of Grimsson to get take offence based on the degree of ruthlessness in the statement.
Good evening everyone,
Peter you say it like is, I enjoy your comments, nothing spared.
These people do not deserve any mercy.
They have been living at the expense of the creditor’s hard work.
My father and I lost a lifetime’s fortune in Iceland!
Sounds like nepotism. No wonder the process to payout creditors will never materialise, seems that some people in goverment benefited.
When will the Iceland president be implicated and removed from office?
Funny that the Iceland president wants apologies,
catch wake up Mr. President, where are the Billions of euros???
Mr. President, if I cannot retire in 15 years from now due to your governments’ failure to do its job correctly, then I will come to Iceland to retire at the cost of the Iceland’s tax payer.
I encourage every creditor to do the same.
Just keep enough money for a no-return air ticket to Iceland.
What are you going to do then Mr. President?
Sell Iceland and pay up!
I want my money Mr. President!
Brown is just another puppet criminal employed by the global financial crime cartel that “followed the orders.”
On January 15, 2010, Prime Minister Jóhanna said,
“Icelanders are both angry and full of sorrow and anxiety. They feel betrayed in many ways by the state, by the banks and by our allies. But the anger is also directed inwards — at ourselves as individuals and as a nation. Why did Icelanders let this happen? Sorting out those feelings will be a long and difficult process.”
It is so illogical as to defy analysis. Unless you consider the possibility that someone’s feelings are being used to manipulate them into paying for debts they don’t owe.
“Understandably, almost every Icelander finds it unreasonable that Icelandic taxpayers should have to pay thousands of pounds each for a failed private bank, because of mistakes the taxpayers had nothing to do with. But someone has to pay.”
She was right the first time, before she got to the illogical, ‘someone has to pay.’ and the implied, ‘it will be the working class Icelanders who suffer most for this.’
“Women are now the majority of students in the Icelandic universities, and 43 per cent of our MPs. … Most women are not as tainted by mistakes in the conduct of the economy as the male population, and now they deserve an opportunity. We are determined to achieve gender equality in the political sphere but, unfortunately, the corporate side is still lacking. This is odd, because international research shows that companies with a sound gender policy are better run and more profitable than male-dominated companies. We are prepared to introduce legislation that would actively encourage the private sector to adopt a wiser and more effective gender policy.”
Now comes the war of the sexes to divide the working class population against itself. Brilliant!
It was a theft by private criminal bankers. How can you expect honest Icelanders to take up debt which is not their creation. It’s like asking me to honour debt my boss made by committing fraud. Sorry, I can’t be responsible for the debts incurred by a group of grifters, even if they are/were the government/banker cabal I suffered under at the time.
Some people above ask the people of Iceland to FEEL GUILTY about foreign investors in privately owned banks. The real question here is: If the IMF were actually an altruistic organization created for the ‘good of the world economy’ why don’t they just pay back the people who lost their savings instead of using the crisis as a way to make another Jamaica out of Iceland. What you should be asking yourself is: Who controls the IMF if not criminals of the very highest order?
Oh, they have ‘reason’ on their side and right there on page 11123, subsection (2) paragraph 323(a) under ‘Bulls**t’ they will prove themselves absolutely correct – all the more reason to kick the thieving f#%kers out.
You get polar bears drifting across the Greenland Strait in search of something to eat and you have bankers who are fat beyond redemption… what could be simpler?
>This is the list Landsbanki was on
Thank you for the link to the “financial sanctions” list. Any chance you can link to this “terrorist list” that you mention?
>the Authorities and Government of Iceland, but only in their capacity as owner or controller of the activities of the Bank or any successor entity to the Bank;”
Did you read this? “but only in their capacity as owner or controller of the activities of the Bank”
>this stunt Gordon pulled on us was more destructive than you could possibly imagine.
So Iceland can do what it wants to defend it’s own national interest, but as soon as the UK stops you from repatriating the bank deposits (although “repatriating” implies that they originated in Iceland, which of course they did not) then it’s somehow evil. Get real.
Have a re-read of the Darling-Mathiesen conversation. If Iceland wanted to avoid this sort of thing, it could have been far more open and consultative at that time, rather than saying, “We need to secure the domestic situation, before I can give you any guarantees for anything else.”
That’s diplo-speak for “fuck you, you’ll get what you’re given”. Fair enough if you’ve got a massive tank army on the border, but otherwise it’s more than a little hopeful.
This is the list Landsbanki was on
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/fin_sanctions_currentindex.htm
If you look at the video that comes with this news story you can see the list, just click the arrow.
http://www.visir.is/article/20081021/FRETTIR02/639188521/1047
The document linked to the name Landsbanki was a freezing order
29 Oct 2008
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/finsanc_landsbanki_291008.pdf
07 Nov 2008
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/fin_sanc_landsbanki_notice_gl_l5_071108.pdf
“Definitions
4 In this licence
• “the Bank” means Landsbanki Islands hf., a public limited company incorporated under the law of Iceland;
• “the Bank’s group” means:
the Bank;
any successor entity to the Bank; and
the Authorities and Government of Iceland, but only in their capacity as owner or controller of the activities of the Bank or any successor entity to the Bank;”
Here you can find documents on this, and also what
Al-Qaida and Taliban have been up to lately.
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/financial_sanctions.htm
17/10/08 The Landsbanki Freezing Order 2008
16/10/08 Financial Sanctions: Al-Qaida and Taliban
13/10/08 The Landsbanki Freezing Order 2008 (General Licence)
09/10/08 The Landsbanki Freezing Order 2008 (General Licence)
09/10/08 The Landsbanki Freezing Order 2008
08/10/08 The Landsbanki Freezing Order 2008
I only found 2 of the documents linked to the Terrorist list, not the oldest one,
this stunt Gordon pulled on us was more destructive than you could possibly imagine.
>No you are right, Darling did, but you can be sure it was from Brown.
Again, for the benefit of the slow, no one was called a “terrorist” or put on a “terrorist list”.
And I note that in your first link, Buiter’s article re. Kaupthing predates the judicial review that YOU HAVE YET TO COMMENT ON :D .
Perhaps that’s why you snipped the part of the quote that referred to Kaupthing?
” >>then to Icelanders for the damage he did by putting the icelandic central bank on a terrorist list
>As always, he did not do this. ”
No you are right, Darling did, but you can be sure it was from Brown.
https://www.icenews.is/index.php/2009/02/13/former-icelandic-pm-haarde-on-hardtalk/#comment-65332
“ outrageous bullying behaviour by the UK authorities (who invoked the 2001 Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act, passed after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the USA, to justify the freezing of the UK assets of the of Landsbanki ..
The official excuse of the British government for its thuggish behaviour was that the Icelandic authorities had informed it that they would not honour Iceland’s deposit guarantees for the UK subsidiaries of its banks. Transcripts of the key conversation on the issue between British and Icelandic authorities suggest that, if the story of Pinocchio is anything to go by, a lot of people in HM Treasury today have noses that are rather longer than they used to be. ”
https://www.icenews.is/index.php/2009/02/13/former-icelandic-pm-haarde-on-hardtalk/#comment-65178
“The statement sent to the Ambassador of Iceland in London says that the terrorism law applied to Icelandic companies doing business in the UK only applied to Landsbanki (Icesave).”
This was not enough so 17th October UK Treasury force to release detailed 44 point 5 page official follow-up notice “clarifying” basic points such as:
“…The Order is specific to Landsbanki and does not freeze the funds of any other Icelandic banks. It does not affect Icelandic companies with no links to Landsbanki.
… This Order works in a different way to, and has a more limited effect than, financial sanctions regimes, because the prohibition on making funds available only applies to “frozen funds” (as defined in paragraph 5 above) rather than all funds. This ensures that the Order only relates to the movement of Landsbanki assets (including debts owed to Landsbanki).
… As the Order does not relate to funds other than frozen funds (i.e. Landsbanki funds), it does not restrict normal commercial transactions between the UK and Iceland, other than those involving such frozen funds.
… Under the Order, the Authorities and the Government of Iceland are included as “specified persons” for the purpose of the prohibitions. The effect of this is not to freeze Icelandic Government assets in the UK or to prevent all payments from the UK to the Icelandic Authorities.”
Yes, the peacock Ólafur Ragnar is trying to repear his reputation so he can go on to some thing like the UN but he is right about Gordon Brown’s actions which were to push away the focus from Browns own mismanaging of the situation in UK as chancellor from 1997-2007 and as prime minister since 2007.
> Brown should start by appologizing to the British pepople for trashing their economy
Yes but that is as likely as Iceland joining the EU. Brown is deluded and thinks — looking at his new autobiography book — that he ” Saved the World “.
>the Labour party of British politics stands head and shoulders above any Icelandic party you might care to name.
It certainly is bigger in number of useless politicians sucking tax payer money ( not just in UK parliemnt but in EU parlient and commission too) .
Given the UK parliamentry expenses scandal and just looking at that election fraud in Glenrothes election in 2008 from the postal votes, it is hard to see Labour or the Scottish Labour as being anything than standing head and shoulders above Icelandic politicians in terms of their ability to steal from the tax payer.
” Positively Icelandic! ”
Axel does speak only for him self as I speak for my self so lets not generalize and just view people as members of a group. We are all individuals just like you ” Team UK ” posters.
Just shows what a dream-world that fool of a President is living in. This is the same fool who went around the world PROMOTING the very banks that failed and bankrupted thousands of people. How can you Icelanders believe that you can re-write recent history? Do you think the rest of the world joins you in Magical Thinking? You remain debtors to the rest of the world, both morally and in real terms.
>I agree with the President, but Brown should start by appologizing to the British pepople for trashing their economy,
Advice on how to apologise for one’s involvement in the political side of a financial crisis should really come from those who’ve apologised themselves. I seem to remember that one of the shocking aspects of the Black Report was that no one apologied, even when that report made it clear who was responsible for the Icelandic mess (hint: it wasn’t Brown).
>then to Icelanders for the damage he did by putting the icelandic central bank on a terrorist list
As always, he did not do this.
>and calling iceland a bankrupt nation,
That’s right – solvent countries always go to the IMF for loans. Iceland had been advised to approach the IMF before it came to a head but waited until it was too late.
>Gordon Brown was the worst PM UK has had in its entire history,
Chamberlain was just a little worse.
>he couldnt even ballance his check book and became Chancelor,
Positively Icelandic! If only he’d been a trained vet.
>he could hardly write and became PM, he has no social skills and was never elected as PM,
Well Oddsson was by all accounts far more of a social animal and that didn’t work out so good.
>he just popped up like a rat out of a sewer, whitch is a word fiting to describe the labour party for more than a decade.
Just when I thought we might finally agree, you say “labour party” and not “politician”. Like them or loath them, the Labour party of British politics stands head and shoulders above any Icelandic party you might care to name. Although, having read a recent piece by Jon Baldvin Hannibalsson, perhaps the Icelandic Social Democratic Party pre-alliance was okay.
I agree with the President, but Brown should start by appologizing to the British pepople for trashing their economy, then to Icelanders for the damage he did by putting the icelandic central bank on a terrorist list and calling iceland a bankrupt nation,
Gordon Brown was the worst PM UK has had in its entire history, he couldnt even ballance his check book and became Chancelor, he could hardly write and became PM, he has no social skills and was never elected as PM, he just popped up like a rat out of a sewer, whitch is a word fiting to describe the labour party for more than a decade.
Come on. It is time for the Icelandic people to get real. Stop worrying about apologies from a FORMER prime minister, and continue rebuilding your country please. As written above, it’s Icelands own fault that they are in this mess. It is not the fault of Gordon Browns, and it is not the fault of all the poor suckers around the world, who are now bankrupt thanks to the greed of the king ping bankers in Iceland.
Keep dreaming. Yes it would be possible for Iceland to join the EU and maintaing a local currency, BUT SORRY, THE KRÓNA IS A DEAD CURRENCY WITHOUT VALUE THAT YOU CANNOT PEG TO THE EURO JUST LIKE THAT.
The EU is not interested in pegging more WEAK or DEAD currencies to the Euro.
And if Iceland is or not a bankrupt country, WELL JUDGE FOR YOURSELF, or is it that Brown is going to be blamed now for what happened here??
What happened in Iceland was created by Icelanders themselves, by the greed of its bankers and politicians, by not having a DECENT RESERVE IN FOREIGN CURRENCY, and by making many other mistakes, like wanting to grow too much too fast without doing it safely.
Once they claimed to be the richest country of the world, always news on TV about the icelandic businessmen…. hahaha… And just overnight depending on IMF and KNOCKING AT ALL THE DOORS BEGGING FOR MONEY…
What a lack of dignity really…
How can the icelandic people believe that they were the wounded party. Their government allowed corrupt bankers to steal from ordinary people to an alarming degree. Half of the ruling classes are implicated in this debacle and there are still innocent people around the world trying to get their money back from banks that have been taken over by the icelandic governmet who are no better than a bunch of third rate gangsters. Get real
Poland is determined to join the Euro, its going to take some years before the economy fits the criteria though.
I’m sure GB will not waste one minute considering what he should say to this idiotic president who was in pay of criminal organisations called Icelandic banks.