This week Arni Johnsen, MP for the Independence Party arose from his bought and paid for seat in Althingi and said that “The EU is a new Soviet”. Almost noone paid much attention and those few who did said, “Arni is an old criminal”. Bjarni Benediktsson was against EU membership, then for EU membership, then [...]

The mind boggles. Althingi is preparing to vote on whether Iceland should enter talks with the EU and there are a couple of MP’s whose stance and attitude towards the whole thing is astoundingly backwards to say the least. I voted for the Citizen’s Movement and have been reasonably pleased with the fresh air they’ve [...]

  It would be a welcome change if our leaders could man up to rebuild with a long-term, outward focus. Where the well-being of all citizens on the planet is considered, instead of short-term profits and an anarchic idea of making Iceland into a financial center, i.e. what Kaupthing boss Sigurdur Einarsson was asked to [...]

Iceland is doing what would have been unthinkable only a year ago: applying to join the European Union. The prime minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir, announced this week she would present a bill to parliament authorising the start of membership talks with Brussels. The move was widely expected, as she believes EU membership is the only way [...]

To keep up with the enlightened discussions taking place in Iceland, I have seen an opportunity in creating adverts for political parties.  My first ad would inform people about facts they should know about the EU, before they can make up their mind on whether Iceland should apply for membership.

  With opinion polls showing views on European Union membership about equally divided among the 320,000 people in this remote land on the edge of the Arctic Circle, Ms. Sigurdardottir has linked her political future to gaining entry to the 27-nation union. She said Saturday at a news conference that applying for entry was an [...]

Hallgrimur Oskarsson ponders the benefits and faults regarding Iceland entering the EU on his blog.  The Benefits 1. Improves Iceland’s image regarding trust and stability abroad 2. A stabler economy, lower interests and no price indexation 3. A stable currency (Euro) – Hard to attack. Lower operating costs.  4. A decent outlook for lower and [...]

Finally people seem to realise that EU membership is something the nation needs to confront sooner rather than later.  While the special interest parties have spread fear and loathing towards the EU, more and more citizens are waking up to the fact that Iceland’s standing in the world is becoming more and more perilious. The [...]

I am getting tired of talking about the Independence Party but they seem intent on hogging the headlines with one misguided step after another. Now Bjarni Benediktsson is plastered across bus-stops and full-page ads promising voters that Iceland could adopt the Euro through the IMF without entering the EU. This without putting forth any evidence [...]

For mystery lovers there is nothing more puzzling these days but what is happening between the government of Iceland and the IMF. It is now roughly two weeks since the IMF declared an intent to lend Iceland 2 billion USD, if approved by its board. The estimated need was 6 billion USD and the rest [...]