Icesave Dispute - Reaction

Reaction

Also on 8 October, the Prime Minister Geir Haarde issued a statement saying "The Icelandic government appreciates that the British authorities are willing to step in and respond to the immediate concerns of depositors of Landsbankinn Icesave accounts" and that "There is a good probability that the total assets of Landsbankinn will be sufficient to cover the deposits in IceSave." Later that day, he said that the Icelandic government was in no way running away from its obligations and suggested that Brown's remarks were grounded in a misunderstanding.

On the following day Haarde said at a press conference that the Icelandic government was outraged that the UK government applied provisions of "anti-terrorism legislation" to it in a move they dubbed an "unfriendly act". In a statement to the Althing on 15 October, Haarde again criticized the British government, saying that its actions "had nothing to do with salvaging British interests" and were "absolutely unacceptable". He also reiterated that Iceland was considering legal action against the UK.

The next day, the Central Bank of Iceland stated that problems with international payments to and from Iceland were "directly attributable to the extremely harmful actions taken by the British authorities" a claim that was repeated on 21 October. The allegations were reiterated by Davíð Oddsson, chairman of the governors of the central bank, on 18 November:

When the bulk of our banking system collapsed in the space of a few days in October and the British placed a fellow NATO member on a list together with the most notorious terrorists on the planet – a list that included not only Landsbanki but also the Republic of Iceland – it was no wonder that foreign exchange activity between Iceland and other nations should be utterly paralysed.

Haarde, before the Althing again on 30 October, criticized the UK's "absurd decision to invoke the Terrorism Act against Icelandic interests in Britain", which became "the virulent measures of the UK authorities" in front of the Federation of Icelandic Fishing Vessel Owners the following day. The President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, who normally has only a figurehead role in Icelandic politics, made comments about Britain at an informal lunch with foreign diplomats on 7 November: his comments about Britain were described as "directly insulting" by a Norwegian diplomat present.

A rare exception was Björgólfur Guðmundsson, the former chairman and leading shareholder in Landsbanki, an unpopular figure in Iceland after his bank's collapse, best known in Great Britain as the owner of West Ham United football club. On the Kastljós programme on RÚV on 13 November he stated that Landsbanki's remaining assets should be enough to cover the claims of British and Dutch Icesave depositors, contradicting statements by Geir Haarde that the UK was insisting on "conditions that would ruin our economy".

In November, media reports indicated that the European Union and EU member states were putting pressure on Icelandic authorities to reach an agreement with Britain and the Netherlands over the Icesave dispute, and this would be a prerequisite to loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other countries. Former Foreign Minister and vice-chairman of the opposition Progressive Party Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, speaking after an outline settlement had been reached (see below), criticized the ruling Independence Party for "believing that they can get away with corresponding with other nations in such a way," while adding that she thought that Britain’s behaviour could not be excused.