Iceland and the EU "Shakedown"
http://www.jbs.org/jbs-news-feed/5520-i ... shakedownq
In a recent article, we reviewed the current state of the economic meltdown in Iceland. The current plight of this small nation illustrates the way in which the Internationalists are exploiting the crises which their own policies helped to create in order to press for global government. Thus, a little historical context is necessary, since Americans typically have very little knowledge of Iceland.
Icelanders take an understandable pride in their national heritage: their ancestors (primarily Norwegians and their Irish slaves) began settling their island nation in 870 A.D.; by 930 a national parliament, or Alþing, had been established, in which every landholder had the ability to choose which of the 36 members of the Alþing would represent him. After nearly three and a half centuries of independence, several generations of civil strife led some members of the Alþing to seek a definitive conclusion to the crisis—and their own personal advantage—through submission to the Norwegian king. From 1262 until 1944, Iceland remained under foreign rule—first under Norway (1262-1397) and then under Denmark (1397–1944), when the Nordic nations were united in the Kalmar Union.
Throughout the centuries of foreign rule, Icelanders retained their language and culture in the face of poverty and exploitation. Through the leadership of bold individuals such as Jón Sigurðsson (1811-1879), an independence movement grew within Iceland, and in 1944 the nation finally regained its independence.
The Independence Party has largely dominated Icelandic politics since the nation gained its independence from Denmark in 1944. Often described as a “center-right” party, party leadership has generally remained committed to positions on economics and foreign policy similar to those of American conservatives. The Independence Party has favored an active role within NATO (including NATO ‘peacekeeping’ operations), but continues to oppose membership in the European Union.
However, the prominent role of members of the Independence Party in the economic scandals which devastated the nation’s economy led to a decisive defeat in the April 2009 elections: the party lost nine seats and now controls a mere 16 of the 63 seats in the Alþing. The Social Democratic Alliance and the Green-Left Party control 34 seats, and thus have the necessary majority to pursue their pro-EU agenda.
The collapse of the Independence Party and the rise of leftist elements can be attributed to one factor: the collapse of Iceland’s economy. As explained previously, the factors involved in Iceland’s economic meltdown are a complicated tangle of allegedly reckless policies on the part of Icelandic banks, foreign currency speculation and alleged manipulation, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s treacherous misuse of antiterrorism laws in the UK to seize Icelandic assets. Many Icelanders view Brown’s action as a shakedown; as Time magazine reported in November 2008,
"We're still on the list — in the wonderful company of al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Sudan, North Korea, Iran and a number of other entities — where we do not belong," Iceland's Prime Minister, Geir Haarde, said in an interview with TIME, referring to the British government's website listing of regimes subject to financial sanctions. "The application of the antiterrorist legislation has created a lot of ill will here," said Haarde — particularly in combination with London's demand that the Icelandic government recompense British depositors in a subsidiary of the failed Icelandic bank Landsbanki to the tune of $5 billion, or "roughly half of Iceland's GDP," Haarde added. "Our parliament will never agree to accepting that kind of debt burden. It's unsustainable."
During this writer's most recent visit to Iceland in June of this year, the prevailing attitude expressed by Icelanders was despair. Nearly every person I spoke with expressed their outrage at foreign, especially European, manipulation of Iceland’s plight. Leftist politicians were swept to power by the political turmoil generated by economic crisis, but this development appears to have been simply a local manifestation of the age-old maxim, “Throw the bums out!” Much of the leadership of the Independence Party was viewed as inept, incompetent or corrupt, and thus lost to the available opposition. Most individuals did not view membership in the European Union as a good move for Iceland, but many said the nation was, in essence, being held hostage: if Iceland joined the EU, they understood that the crippling economic sanctions would be alleviated, if they did not join, they would be crushed with debts they had little hope of paying.
Unemployment went from 1 percent in 2007 and 1.6 percent in 2008 to 9.4 percent in February of this year. The Icelandic government collapsed when the Social Democratic Alliance Party withdrew from its coalition with the Independence Party because the latter party refused to allow the Social Democrats to choose the nation’s prime minister. The government arranged $10 billion in loans from Scandinavian nations, and the International Monetary Fund, but Iceland’s crisis had moved past such efforts to stem the collapse.
Following the election, the new prime minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir (identified by the New York Times as “the first openly gay politician to head any government in the modern world”) announced her commitment to several actions which will gravely undermine Iceland’s independence and cultural identity. According to the New York Times:
Ms. Sigurdardottir, 66, argues that membership, together with abandoning Iceland’s currency, the krona, for the euro, would provide a shield for Iceland as it seeks to work its way out of the financial crisis.
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 overriding priority for the Social Democrats, and that she hoped that terms for Iceland’s membership could be agreed to within 12 to 18 months.
“We want Iceland as soon as possible to join the European Union and adopt the euro,” she said. She added brusquely, “I should emphasize that this is a priority issue for the Social Democrats.”
Membership in the European Union risks, among other things, an expansion of immigration of foreign workers which would overwhelm the nation’s tiny population of 300,000. As the BBC reported last year:
Icelanders have mixed feelings about migrant workers. This is a society that has never known large-scale immigration.
A Reykjavik taxi-driver told me "there are 20,000 Poles in Iceland - and it's 20,000 too many".
The Polish consulate estimates there are 8,000 Poles here, but the comment illustrates a wider mood.
Dorota Erutkowska-Bragasson, who is married to an Icelander and works as a translator, says media reports about Poles committing rapes and thefts have soured the atmosphere.
"Icelandic children hear bad things about Polish people, maybe from their parents or somewhere. Then they come to school and they are using it, saying 'your father is a rapist' or something. It's very sad," she says.
In last year's general election a small opposition party, the Liberals, gained seats in parliament by calling for curbs on immigration.
Magnus Thor Hafsteinsson, one of its MPs, even sees the current crisis as a blessing in disguise.
"This matter of integration is very important for us Icelanders as we are a very small nation," he says.
Iceland stands at a crossroads which seems eerily familiar: extremists swept into power because of an economic meltdown which occurred during the rule of the incompetent, inept, or corrupt; overwhelming immigration which threatens to fundamentally change the nation; and ruling ideologues who are eager to eliminate the nation’s currency and national autonomy—all in the name of ‘saving’ the country. But if this is what victory looks like, how does one define defeat?
Rt. Rev. James Heiser has served as Pastor of Salem Lutheran Church in Malone, Texas, while maintaining his responsibilities as publisher of Repristination Press, which he established in 1993 to publish academic and popular theological books to serve the Lutheran Church. Heiser has also served since 2005 as the Dean of Missions for The Augustana Ministerium and in 2006 was called to serve as Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America (ELDoNA). An advocate of manned space exploration, Heiser serves on the Steering Committee of the Mars Society. His publications include two books; The Office of the Ministry in N. Hunnius' Epitome Credendorum (1996) and A Shining City on a Higher Hill: Christianity and the Next New World (2006), as well as dozens of journal articles and book reviews.
Login
Register
FAQ
