About InDefence
The In Defence of Iceland (InDefence) group was established in October 2008 by several Icelanders who were shocked and dismayed by the actions of the British government against Iceland during the height of the financial crisis. The group’s first action was to organize an online petition ("Icelanders are NOT terrorists") to protest against the use of Anti-terrorism legislation by the British government against Iceland. Just over 83,000 individuals (thereof 75,000 out of 320,000 Icelanders) signed this petition, which was handed over to the British Parliament by the InDefence group on March 17th 2009.
The goal of the InDefence group is to gather information, provide analysis and contribute to a balanced discussion of issues such as the use of the Anti-terrorism Act against Iceland and the resolution of the Icesave dispute. It is above all the aim of InDefence to present and defend the interests of the Icelandic nation both in the domestic and international arenas in this dispute.
The InDefence group has been highly critical of the Icesave agreements from the time they were signed at the beginning of June 2009. On June 15th the group issued a statement to the Icelandic press that posed a number of crucial questions about the nature of the agreement and the huge economic risks it entails for the Icelandic population. Unfortunately, these questions have either not been satisfactorily answered or the answers have highlighted the disastrous nature of the agreements for Iceland. Among other things, the group asked the government to provide a 15 year fiscal plan to demonstrate the state’s capacity to fulfill the obligations laid out in the Icesave agreements. Today, seven months later, the 15 year fiscal plan has yet to made public. In fact, there is no evidence to suggest that such a plan even exists.
However, since June 2008, several reports, dictums and assessments of the Icesave agreements and their implications for the Icelandic economy have been issued by both Icelandic and international experts. The vast majority of these documents support the critical position taken by the InDefence group. An important example is a detailed legal analysis from the British law firm Mischon de Reya, submitted to the Icelandic parliament in December 2009, which challenges the legal basis of the claims being made by the British and Dutch governments. Another important example is a fiscal analysis by Dr. Jón Daníelsson (Reader in finance at the London School of Economics) that shows the excessive costs and grave risks posed by the Icesave agreements for Iceland.
In the light of Iceland’s weak political and economic position and the stark refusal of the British and Dutch governments to have their claims legally tested, the InDefence group supported the solution proposed by the Icelandic parliament in August 2009. This solution was based on legislation that set several crucial conditions for Iceland to grant a state guarantee of the €3.91 billion debt imposed by the Icesave agreements. It was the view of the InDefence group that these conditions modified the Icesave agreements such that they were in greater accordance with the so-called Brussels guidelines that were agreed to by the EU and all the parties to the Icesave dispute and stipulated that the resolution of the dispute should “take into account the unprecedented difficult situation of Iceland and therefore the necessity of finding arrangements that allow Iceland to restore its financial system and its economy”.
It was nonetheless the view of the InDefence group that the conditions set by the Icelandic parliament in August 2009 were not stringent enough and that a new resolution to the Icesave dispute was needed. Nonetheless, several of the key conditions set by the Icelandic parliament were allegedly rejected by the British and Dutch governments (although no official reaction was ever made public). After a new bout of secretive negotiations, the Icelandic government returned with new legislation containing a substantially watered down version of the conditions that were initially set by the Icelandic parliament
The InDefence group consists of individuals who have one thing in common: a concern for the interests of Iceland. While the members of the group hold a broad spectrum of political views, InDefence is a strictly non-partisan organization. All work is undertaken on a voluntary basis and any costs, for example of advertisements, telephones, websites, are either covered by the members or through donations from the public or businesses. Money that is donated to the bank account of InDefence is used only to cover costs directly associated with the group’s activities. Any money that is left after the group ceases its actions will be donated to charities.
