The foreign ministers of Iceland and the United Kingdom will hold a telephone meeting this evening specifically to discuss the Icesave issue.
Iceland’s Foreign Minister Ossur Skarphedinsson said today he has been in near-constant contact with the Icelandic ambassador in London, who in turn has been in close contact with British politicians.
“During my conversation with [Foreign Secretary] David Milliband, I will lay strong emphasis on the fact that the President’s decision absolutely does not mean that we do not intend to honour our debts,” Skarphedinsson told Visir.is.
He said he also intends to mention that the Icelandic economy is currently in a much worse position than it might have been had the British government made less confrontational decisions at the start of the crisis in October 2008 and that the British government should take that into account in the decisions it takes from now on.
“I will then discuss with Milliband the fact that we need to work towards solutions for the deep ‘recession’ which now exists in our relations with the UK,” Skarphedinsson added. “These solutions need to be found using traditional diplomatic methods and not with blunt, unilateral statements.”
Iceland’s taxpayers are not responsible to the debt and should not repay the UK or the Dutch.
I would also suggest that Iceland keep away from the EU as referenda and only permitted if the give the answer that Brussels requires.
Signed PB member of the EUSSR (worse luck)
>These solutions need to be found using traditional diplomatic methods
If only that were possible in Iceland :) .
“He said he also intends to mention that the Icelandic economy is currently in a much worse position than it might have been had the British government made less confrontational decisions at the start of the crisis in October 2008 and that the British government should take that into account in the decisions it takes from now on.”
He did not mention that before? This is one of the main points of negotiation with the UK and one of the reasons people in Iceland are so angry.
Keep cool. The behavour from England when they said that Iceland was a terrorist state would be enough for Iceland to sue England at least of the amount that they claim for Icesawe.
he seem to be greater servant of UK than of Iceland. It all looks like he is trying very hard to satisfy the master. Rather miserable. And what traditional British diplomatic methods he is talking about, use of force, rape, or some other, less convenient in British diplomacy.
Well, David Milliband will definitely be more diplomatic than Gordon Brown!
“He did not mention that before? This is one of the main points of negotiation with the UK and one of the reasons people in Iceland are so angry.”
The British gov used anti terrorist law to freeze icelandic assets some 5 days after they closed Landsbanki and froze its assets, the Icelandic state was put on a list over terrorist countrys, that offended alot of people and destroyed all our financial system, fortunetly the we can survive without the bloodsucking bankers.
What is the point to have talks with British person (Milliband) who either doesn’t understand English or pretends he doesn’t know what President decision really means?
And I’m well aware that both – Milliband and Brown – can’t understand how the final power rests with PEOPLE not politicians. This is beyond their vision of their reality.
An american economic hitman asks for Forgivenes, on Norwegian TV (NRK2)
En amerikansk agent ber om tilgivelse
John Perkins var med i en hemmelig gruppe (National Security Agency) som på vegne av USAs regjering gjennomførte de mest skitne jobbene i Sør -og Mellom-Amerika.
http://www1.nrk.no/nett-tv/klipp/458661
China buys a building for a new embassy,
the biggest embassy in Iceland
http://dagskra.ruv.is/sjonvarpid/4497864/2010/01/06/11/
http://ruv.is/heim/frettir/frett/store64/item319825/
this building is huge for a embassy here in Iceland, the US embassy, who by the way is without a ambassador looks like a hot dog stand comared to this one,
China is among other things interested in development of Þeistareikir geo thermal area who turned out to give far more energy then expected.
China is already a large investor in Iceland and obviously expanding their interest in the country,
and they are more than welcome.
Alex convieniently forgets to mention that the reason for invoking the anti-criminal/financial terrorist law against Landsbankii and the Icelandic government was that the Icelandic government decided to guarantee the deposits of Icelandic customers of Landsbankii but not foreign customers, in contravention of the agreements by which Landsbankii could operate branches in those foreign countries.
John Perkins in Iceland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ushMvvN8y-I&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUF25wNQDHg
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5595182360829048829#
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1877050852404764371#
ofcourse should the tax payers in Island pay. It is your goverment that has let this happen. The dutch and UK also payed for banks in their own country. Should the Dutch and UK goverment then pay the bill in Island aswell?
I think it is a very strange decission, if so no one will invest any more in Island. No more lending to island. and ofcourse as counter measures. Islands Asseds could be seased elsewhere.
David Milliband ( likely next leader Labour Party ) has no experience of diplomacy so its stretch to expect any thing decent from him.
Since Brown came in the UK no longer has a Foreign Office. It just has UK Treausury.
What Össur really doesnt need to add to already what is clearly visible in every statement is that Icelandic people have had enough of UK and Holland ” leaders ” bullying.
The August law amendemnts+ to the IceSave deal will stand ( with our state guarantee to pay for IceSave obligations that has already been passed then.
But this government of Iceland will not.
And UK had better get used to that a far more less accomodating ( ie not spineless ) government is coming again back to Iceland.
And that new government will not be friendly to idea of EU joining negotiations, so we cannot be bullyed from inside using EU machinery for that.
+http://www.icenews.is/index.php/2010/01/06/icesave-misunderstanding-in-the-foreign-media/#comment-109052
The British should not be so high and mighty as they would still be up the creek financially if if Canada did not forgive all the debt owed to Canada. The government did not even give the Canadians a chance to vote on this. At least the Icelanders will get a vote.
Check out this link:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dd0831a4-fafa-11de-94d8-00144feab49a.html
The Icelandic Media and goberment are just trying the old trick “order out of chaos”
they are trying to create a chaos and fear so people run to vote “YES” next 20th of feb, Say NO, YES with the amandments NO to this one they passed in december. I dont get who can somebody get angry at somebody that is giving you the chance to decide, for hatever reason he did it, he gave us the chance to decide, except that now through fear the media is trying to take that away from you.
We will get our money back, and of course you should pay all that money.
If you don’t pay back all the money, we (Dutch) must pay it our selves. And remember, it was not our fault, is was yours.
As a US citizen Please don’t make our mistake.
The US banks did criminal things and now I am paying in taxes for this for years….
As in Iceland the citizens are not responsible
for bad bussiness decisions or criminal activities. That is for the courts to take care of this only!!
Do not be bully or intimidated by these people you did nothing wrong and should not be paying for their criminal activities.
Don’t be stupid like we are!!
Hehehehe, WEL COME TO THE GROUP !!!!! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT BRITISH HAS BEEN DOING IN AFRICA AND ESIA.OFCOURSE, HISTORY TELS US THAT THIS IS THE WISDOM OF THEIR STRENGTH! … LOOKING FOR AN EXCUSE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE RESORCE OF WEAK AND SMALL COUNTRIES IS UNDER THEIR CONTROLE. THEY WILL NEVR LEAVE ALONE ICELAND TIL THIS LITTLE COUNTRY MILKED DRY.
Cant UK see, it is useless to get any guaranty from Icelandic FM, and this government, people of Iceland do not recognize this minister nor government, nor any thing they promise to anybody, including Dutch or British. Icelandic people spit in advice on the decision of the ministers and waiting for referendum to show this. This minister was not autorised by Icelandic people to promise anythig in their name, so any deal between British minister and this man from Iceland is not binding for Icelandic state and is completely deal between him personaly and his foreign masters.
If Iceland can’t take the ups and downs inherent in any sort of financial speculation. If they only want the benefits and won’t accept the potential downsides then maybe they should just stick to fish and local industries and accept lower incomes.
To Johan, you can keep your nose out aswel, When are banks i.e Northen rock and RSB collapsed we supported depositers overseas who had acounts with us. The reasing we are so angry with Iceland is they tried to drain the accounts in the UK and Holland to support Iclandic accounts, thats why we freezed Landsbaki or what the bank was called! Iceland is untrustworthey and is a bunch of theifes!!
We need a solution in the round to all the Icelandic kreppa, bearing in mind (a) where the cash went and is (b) who is responsible for the frauds etc (c) what was the respective roles of the Icelandic UK and Manx and Guernsey regulators and degree of failure in their tasks; (d) what was the purpose and effect of UK “Freezing” actions and their international legitimacy. From this mess we should aim to :-
1) Recover as much money as possible from tax havens and other places culprits have hidden proceeds;
2) If necessary bring in legislation allowing pursuit of personal assets of directors and shadow directors involved in blatantly fraudulent lending ;
3) Jail any criminals;
4) Top-up the pots of all the banks equitably and have an equitable distribution to savers across the vaious jurisdictions rather than each trying to snatch an inequitable amount to give to their own nationals (eg Iceland and UK)
5) From public funds allotted fairly in each country draw up the national bills to ensure savers get their full monies restored
6) There were great wrongs done here in a situation of panic which has now passed. These should now be righted. Gordon Brown thought he was being robbed by Iceland so he robbed the Isle of Man and Guernsey’s British savers. We need healing and fairness across the board in this – not more Brown bullying. At the end of the day it was the UK FSA who was most at fault in all this – and adopted the extraordinary policy of allowing banks that were failing to try and prop themselves up by expanding into retail banking, when the only way of paying the high returns needed to secure deposits was to invest in speculative things. The FSA’s role is not to prop up bad business models at the cost of the consumer. They may have done this with the best of intentions but it is time for the FSA to pay off all the non-retail depositors left out of pocket by their sheer neglect of duty and actual wrongdoing in thinking it was right to sacrifice many many thousands of people on the Kaupthing alter when they could earlier have pulled the plug on the few people who were then with Kaupthing.
I am one of the big losers from having made had my life saving on deposit with Landsbanki in Guernsey. Although, I am now in London, I have lived in Scandinavia many years, have visited Iceland and have great sympathy with the mood of the Icelandic people who rightly feel very sore in baling out the British and Dutch depositors through no fault of their own.
HOWEVER, FROM WHERE I SIT, I DO NOT SEE THAT ICELANDIC GOVERNMENT HAVE EITHER PROSECUTED, LEAVE ALONE PUNISHED ANY OF THE FAT CATS IN ICELAND WHO HAVE BENIFITTED IMMENSELY FROM THIS ENORMOUS TRAGEDY. I BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE AT THE TOP IN ICELAND ARE HEAVILY IMPLICATED AND INVOLVED IN FIRST ENRICHING THEMSELVES AND THEN IN COVERING UP TO PROTECT THEIR BACK SIDES.
Would be happy if the President and the people of Iceland do more to punish these Icelandic MADOFFS and others who conspired from the government. Sorry to say but
smacks of a Banana Republic rather than a North European country with in built integrity.
Love to hear your views.
To steveservaes:
I full-heartedly agree with all your suggestions, so long as it could be done in a fair and equitable manner for everyone involved.
On Jan 7, 2010, steveservaes said: “At the end of the day it was the UK FSA who was most at fault in all this ”
Sorry to burst your bubble but just because you say it does not make it true.
I work in a UK regulatory role. I am very familiar with the EU/EEA Passport Arrangement. I have even undertaken such work in Scandinavia.
The Iceland FSA was responsible for monitoring its banks.
To Mike:
>>>>HOWEVER, FROM WHERE I SIT, I DO NOT SEE THAT ICELANDIC GOVERNMENT HAVE EITHER PROSECUTED, LEAVE ALONE PUNISHED ANY OF THE FAT CATS IN ICELAND WHO HAVE BENIFITTED IMMENSELY FROM THIS ENORMOUS TRAGEDY. I BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE AT THE TOP IN ICELAND ARE HEAVILY IMPLICATED AND INVOLVED IN FIRST ENRICHING THEMSELVES AND THEN IN COVERING UP TO PROTECT THEIR BACK SIDES.
Just be patient, these kind of cases unfortunately take time, but they are definitely moving forward. I covered the current status on different investigations few days ago here:
http://www.icenews.is/index.php/2010/01/04/icesave-decision-expected-tomorrow/#comment-108548
10 Jan
TO BJARNI and others
I have read what you have said but have grave doubts that at the end of the day any of the FAT CATS will be punished since quite a lot of people at the top are implicated. This debacle could not have happened without collusion from a lot of people in power. For a small country like Iceland, who are these people who are heading up the investigating commissions and how do you as the Icelandic voters and men in the street be sure that they have no axe to grind or protect their own back sides. Are you sure that the end of the day, there wont be just a whitewash? Even if that’s not the case, what real punishments (in fund recovery) can be imposed to satisfy the many aged depositors who placed their life savings with Landsbanki? Some have died during the year and others are in great financial hardship.
To Mike:
>>>>Are you sure that the end of the day, there wont be just a whitewash?
No one knows yet what the big 1500+ page investigative report will contain, but few months ago, the commission put out the news that the results “won’t be pretty”.
There is currently a great anger among the population, which has risen up several times, when seemingly “wrong” things were being perpetuated.
We will just have to wait until February to see the actual report, and then we can judge if it will be a whitewash or for real.
Fund recovery will unfortunately be much harder to attain, since most of the money is just lost forever.