It is all about the Icesave account,should the Iceland goverment pay the debts that Landsbanki ,one of the banks that crashed in 2008,left in UK and Holland.
The time is now around 23:30 hours local here in Iceland.
And the first numbers from the vote ,look like that the NO voters will win big.
But numbers from Reykjavik have not been counted .
Here are photos of the polling station in Reykjavik,and my vote.
I personally voted - YES.
Hi Dori,
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can help me understand this. I live in the United States and I've been following this story in the news but I have never understood the logic behind asking Icelandic citizens pay for this bank failure.
Icesave was a private bank. The people who lost money were not compelled to use this bank. Does the government of Iceland guarantee the funds of this bank? Did the Icelandic citizens who lost money because of this bank also get their losses compensated? No one here in the US seems to know the answers to these questions.
It seems to me that the governments of the UK and Netherlands themselves made a unilateral decision to compensate their own citizens who had lost money because of Icesave. They didn't ask the government of Iceland or the citizens of Iceland if this was an acceptable decision. So how can the governments of the UK and Netherlands make that decision without consulting anyone and then expect Icelandic citizens to pay them back for it?
This makes no sense to me and I think the citizens of Iceland should stand firm and say "no way." But I also am curious to understand why so many Icelanders voted "yes."
Thanks for your insight!
Patti Andrews
California, USA
Patti. I belive you got the big picture correct. The reason for so many yes voting is probably related to the history and background of the people of Iceland. It is known that the setlers cam mostly from Norway but many forget that these setlers took slaves with them to here wich were mostly from Scotland, Ireland and even Frisland (Netherland). I belive that that the yes voters have slaves as ther anchesters but the no voters are originated from the vikings (norse).
ReplyDeleteRegards
True Icelander
That's very interesting - thank you! I didn't realize that there could be an ethnic dimension to the issue. When I think of it like that, it makes more sense... that the yes voters actually have an affinity with the foreign investors who lost money because of a common ancestry. We might have a similar debate here in the USA if we had such a situation and the people who lost money were from Mexico or West Africa because many Americans can trace their ancestors to those places.
ReplyDeleteWe applaud Iceland citizens referendum NO vote to the UK & Netherland banks compensation scheme.
ReplyDeleteWhy should they have to pay up for the misdeeds of the Icelandic corrupted politicians and fraudulent bankers ?
Did they were participating to their previous profits ?
Banks, Funds & Private Investors who put their cash into EU bankrupt banks & junk Government Bonds, knew they were taking a high risk, as they were receiving interest rates well above the average market rate.
Why should the general public of EU, entirely unconnected to the banking & financial sectors, be expected to compensate Investment Banks, Funds & Private Investors losses or stump up the money that EU politicians spent trying to buy votes?
This is the reason we suggest to all Greek Citizens to follow Iceland’s example, asking for a similar referendum in Greece.
We’re sure that Greek NO vote should be higher than 90%.
Follow us at www.stopspeculators.gr.
Dr. Kiriakos Tobras
Comment to Dr. Kiriakos Tobras: we should cooperate! Greek will become poorer than ever by the policy of the EU and international influence.
ReplyDeleteThe same as Iceland.
The same as Portugal.
The same as Spain.
The same as Italy.
The same as Germany in the end of the day.
E-Mail redaktion@deutschland-debatte.de
Topic: EU- Cooperation