News and opinion site Eyjan today published an article saying that the recent change in government in the UK has had no apparent influence on the country’s position regarding the “alleged” (their words, not ours) obligation that is Icesave. This is not an unexpected announcement, but rather an official confirmation.

Incumbent Conservative prime minister David Cameron told parliament today that Iceland should pay the United Kingdom the sum of £2.3 billion (€2.7 billion, $3.4 billion), and that British authorities intend to use Iceland’s application to the EU to ensure a favourable result for Britain is reached.

Cameron delivered a report from the EU summit talks to parliament, which were held last Thursday. At the summit, it was decided that accession talks with Iceland could go ahead. He said that Britain is in favour of EU expansion, but would like to recover the money it lost in Icesave.

“But Iceland does owe the United Kingdom £2.3 billion... we will use the application process to make sure that Iceland meets its obligations because we want that money back,” Cameron said in an article in the Wall Street Journal.

The comments are getting quite heated on this issue over at Eyjan, with one commenter calling for an end to the discussion over Icesave, saying Iceland should just pay the UK back. Other commenters disagree, saying that Iceland should not agree to pay off a “loan” it has no interest in taking out.

The term “debt” regarding the payment of Icesave is highly controversial for some Icelanders, with the term already appearing in quotation marks in newspaper Morgunblaðið, which is edited by Davíð Oddsson. Many Icelanders blame him for the financial crisis, as he was head of the Central Bank when the economy collapsed in October 2008.

Source: eyjan.is

Labels: icesave