Despite assurances that Icesave would have no influence on Iceland’s newly started accession talks with the European Union, the directorship has stated that Iceland needs to pay what is owed in the Icesave deposits.
In answering questions from the Norwegian news service ABC, the directorship has stated that part of the reason why Iceland needs to pay back what is owed is due to equal rights legislation that pertains to all of Europe. As has been previously reported, the previous government made a conscious decision to allow Icelanders to withdraw money from failing banks, but not anyone living overseas.
Another reason for Iceland’s responsibility, the EU contends, is that to not pay would be a violation of the basic principle that depositors should be able to withdraw at least as much as they put into an account.
The contention within Iceland, however, is not on whether or not the money should be paid back, but rather who should pay. Many Icelanders believe they shouldn’t be covering for the mistakes and intentional corruption of bank managers with their tax money, while others contend that there is no other option.
How Icesave will ultimately influence accession talks remains to be seen.