Geir H. Haarde, the former Icelandic Prime Minister, was in a BBC HARDtalk interview last night. He was questioned especially about the blame of the financial collapse last October, communication between him and the British PM Gordon Brown and private talks with the governor of the Central Bank of Iceland, David Oddsson. Read the full story

Forbes.com yesterday published an article about the Icelandic economy which reignites the debate over the British government’s treatment of Icelandic banks in the wake of the collapse last October. Read the full story

In a Interview to the online media MBL.is the Icelandic prime minster Geir H. Haarde said that unprocessed loans from other countries are stopping the IMF finalising its loan to Iceland, not political pressure from other EU countries.

According to news there have been rumours that the IMF is being pressured by some EU nations to not process the loan until Iceland has agreed to the terms made by the UK and the Netherlands in regards to the Icesave accounts. Read the full story

Icelandic officials urged Labour ministers to stop using Iceland’s financial problems to “undermine the case for Scottish independence”, TimesOnline.co.uk reports.

Even top level politicians have got involved in the bitter slanging match. Read the full story

Writing in The Times yesterday, Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan criticised Gordon Brown’s attitude towards Iceland in recent weeks in a impassioned column, published in whole below:

Shall I tell you the worst thing about this wretched business? Worse than the return of socialism, worse than the indenturing of our children? Read the full story

“This is not how to use laws against terrorism. Very unjust usage of the Terrorist laws, used against Iceland in a situation that has very little to do with terrorism,” TV Channel 2 reported tonight.

Michael Dobbs was interviewed on Sky News by Adam Boulton where the use of terrorist laws against Iceland and Icelandic companies was discussed amongst other topics.

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Icelandic TV Channel 2 informed that a letter was sent from Downing street 10 to the Icelandic Embassy last night. The cabinet of Gordon Brown sent a letter in which earlier statements have been considerably toned down.

The statement sent to the Ambassador of Iceland in Read the full story

IceNews editorial comments

Icelanders are becoming increasingly offended by the approach of both UK politicians and nationals.

The main question hanging in the air over the small Nordic island is whether Gordon Brown is trying to shift the focus away from internal problems over to Iceland. Furthermore, is he really intending to harm the past good relations for the sake of gaining votes by using such a populist and non-diplomatic approach?

There is no reason for accusing such a small economy as Iceland for causing financial problems in the UK. The size of the economy is totally relevant as the smallest get badly hit first, especially when larger economic environments see fit to dispense blame in this way.

The responsibility should be shared, it must be remembered that although the Icelandic banks have overgrown their country’s economy, their size is negligible in comparison with the gigantic financial establishments that have gone bankrupt or been nationalized in USA, and indeed the UK.

Beside other accusations, the financial subsidiaries located in various countries are in many cases regulated by the hosting countries, as stated in the contracted stipulations, and the Icelandic PM repeatedly emphasized this fact in his press conference held yesterday.

According to the UK Prime Minster, Gordon Brown in an Interview with  the BBC earlier today “The Icelandic banks have failed not only the people of Iceland; they have failed people in Britain.”

According to Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Haarde this is not the case and Iceland would not tolerate being placed in the same category as terrorists. “We have talked to Alistair Darling and representatives from both governments will meet over the weekend and take on this growing problem”, he said at the press conference today.
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