Geir Hilmar Haarde (; born 8 April 1951) is an Icelandic politician, who served as

prime minister of Iceland The prime minister of Iceland ( is, Forsætisráðherra Íslands) is Iceland's head of government. The prime minister is appointed formally by the president and exercises executive authority along with the cabinet subject to parliamentary suppo ...

from 15 June 2006 to 1 February 2009 and as president of the Nordic Council in 1995. Geir was chairman of the Icelandic Independence Party from 2005 to 2009. Since 23 February 2015 he has served as the

ambassador of Iceland to the United States Iceland first established a permanent representation to the United States in October of 1940, following Thor Thors appointment as ambassador. Prior to 1940, Iceland was represented in the United States by Denmark. List of ambassadors See also ...

and several Latin American countries. Geir initially led a coalition between his party and the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

. After the 2007 parliamentary election, in which the Independence Party increased its share of the vote, Geir renewed his term as Prime Minister, leading a coalition between his party and the

Social Democratic Alliance The Social Democratic Alliance ( is, Samfylkingin - jafnaðarflokkur Íslands), officially The Alliance – Iceland's Social Democratic Party, is a social democratic, and pro-European political party in Iceland. The Social Democratic Alliance w ...

. That coalition resigned in January 2009 after widespread protests following an economic collapse in October 2008. In September 2010, Geir became the first Icelandic minister to be indicted for misconduct in office, and stood trial before the ''

Landsdómur The National Court ( ) is a special high court in Iceland established in 1905 to handle cases where members of the Cabinet are suspected of criminal behaviour. Composition The National Court has 15 members: five Supreme Court justices, the Rey ...

'', a special court for such cases. He was convicted on one count, but acquitted of the most serious violations.

Life and career

Geir was born in the Icelandic capital

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

, to Tomas Haarde, a Norwegian from Rogaland, and an Icelandic mother. He is the brother of Bernhard Haarde, former leader of the Icelandic branch of the World Union of National Socialists. He received his bachelor's degree in the United States at

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , ...

as a Wien Scholar, graduating with a degree in economics, then went on to earn two

Master's degrees A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

– in

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

from the

School of Advanced International Studies The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., United States, with campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. It is consistently ranked one of the ...

of The

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

and in economics from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. Prior to entering the

Althing The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ("thing fields" or "assembly ...

(the Icelandic Parliament), Geir was an economist at the

Central Bank of Iceland The Central Bank of Iceland ( is, Seðlabanki Íslands) is the central bank or reserve bank of Iceland. It has served in this capacity since 1961, when it was created by an act of the Alþingi out of the central banking department of Landsbank ...

from 1977 to 1983 and was a political adviser to the Icelandic Minister of Finance from 1983 to 1987. He was a member of the Althing for 22 years, 1987–2009. Geir was Chairman of the Independence Party Parliamentary Group from 1991 to 1998 and a member of the Alþing's Foreign Affairs Committee from 1991 to 1998; he was Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee from 1995 to 1998. He served as Minister of Finance from April 1998 to September 2005 and then as

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between coun ...

from September 2005 to June 2006. He was elected Chairman of the Independence Party in an uncontested election in October 2005, following the departure of

Davíð Oddsson Davíð Oddsson (pronounced ; born 17 January 1948) is an Icelandic politician, and the longest-serving prime minister of Iceland, in office from 1991 to 2004. From 2004 to 2005 he served as foreign minister. Previously, he was Mayor of Reykjav ...

. Following the announcement of

Halldór Ásgrímsson Halldór Ásgrímsson (pronounced ; 8 September 1947 – 18 May 2015) was an Icelandic politician, who served as prime minister of Iceland from 2004 to 2006 and was leader of the Progressive Party from 1994 to 2006. Education and early life Hal ...

's resignation as Prime Minister on 5 June 2006, Geir succeeded him as Prime Minister on 15 June. On 23 January 2009, Geir announced that due to health reasons ( malignant oesophageal tumour), he would step down as chairman of the Independence Party at the next party congress on 26–29 March 2009. On the same day, he announced that an early general election would be held on 9 May 2009, in which he would not be a candidate.

Icelandic financial crisis

The end of Geir's tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the dramatic

financial crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...

which engulfed Iceland from October 2008. In less than a week, the country's three major commercial banks (

Glitnir Forseti (Old Norse "the presiding one", "president" in modern Icelandic and Faroese) is the god of justice and reconciliation in Norse mythology. He is generally identified with Fosite, a god of the Frisians. Name Grimm took ''Forseti'', "''pr ...

Landsbanki Landsbanki (literally "national bank"), also commonly known as Landsbankinn (literally "the national bank") which is now the name of the current rebuilt bank (here called "New Landsbanki"), was one of the largest Icelandic commercial banks that f ...

and

Kaupthing Kaupthing Bank ( is, Kaupþing banki; ) was a major international Icelandic bank, headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland. It was taken over by the Icelandic government during the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis and the domestic Icelandic ...

) all had to be taken over by the government as they were unable to roll over their loans. On 26 January 2009, Geir announced that he and the Social Democrats would not continue in the coalition government. He was replaced by

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir (; born 4 October 1942) is an Icelandic politician, who served as prime minister of Iceland from 2009 to 2013. She became active in the trade union movement, serving as an officer. Elected as an MP from 1978 to 2013, ...

from the Social Democratic Alliance, formerly minister of Social Affairs and Social Security, on 1 February 2009.

Special tribunal

Geir was strongly criticised in the April 2010 report of the Special Investigative Commission into the financial collapse, being accused of "negligence" along with three other ministers of his government. On 28 September 2010, Iceland's parliament,

, voted 33–30 to indict Geir, but not the other ministers, on charges of negligence in office at a session. He was to stand trial before the ''

'', a special

tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a single ...

to hear cases alleging misconduct in government office: it was the first time Landsdómur has convened since it was established in the 1905

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

. On 3 October 2011, in response to a motion by the defence team to dismiss the case, Landsdómur voted to drop the two first charges against Geir Haarde, concerning "gross negligence" and "failure to have the financial risks assessed," but to continue with the case based on three remaining and lesser charges. At its 40th national convention on 17–20 November 2011, the Independence Party concluded that "accusations against Geir H. Haarde, the former leader of the Independence Party and former Prime Minister, constituted an abhorrent

political trial A political trial is a criminal trial with political implications. When the trial is carried out without the minimum guarantees of the rule of law, the political trial is the expression of a totalitarian or authoritarian system, where the administra ...

. The convention declared its unequivocal support for Mr. Haarde while noting the serious precedent the parliament had set with its decision to prosecute." The trial began in Reykjavík on 5 March 2012. Geir Haarde was found guilty on one of four charges on 23 April 2012, for not addressing the problems that Icelandic banks were facing or their potential consequences for Iceland's economy at cabinet meetings. Due to his age, no previous criminal record and the acquittal of the most serious charges, Haarde was not sentenced in the case, and the Icelandic State paid his legal expenses. Haarde decided, as a matter of principle, to refer the whole case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg; in November 2017, the court ruled against him.

Notes and references

External links

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Haarde, Geir 1951 births

Geir Haarde Geir Hilmar Haarde (; born 8 April 1951) is an Icelandic politician, who served as prime minister of Iceland from 15 June 2006 to 1 February 2009 and as president of the Nordic Council in 1995. Geir was chairman of the Icelandic Independence Pa ...

Brandeis University alumni

Living people

Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies alumni

University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni