Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson (born 21 February 1939) is an Icelandic politician and diplomat. He was

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

from 1987 to 1988 and

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from 1988 to 1995. He is known in the

Baltics The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

as, at his initiative, Iceland became the first nation to recognize the independence of the Baltic states in 1991.

Education

The son of Hannibal Valdimarsson, Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson earned an MA in Economics from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

in 1963. He studied at

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

from 1963 to 1964, and studied to become a teacher at the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...

in 1965. He attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

's Center for European Studies from 1976 to 1977.

Editor

From 1964 and until its closure in 1967, Hannibalsson was an editor of '' Frjáls þjóð''. He also edited '' Alþýðublaðið'' (1979–1982).

Political career

* Chairman of the Icelandic Social Democratic Party (1984–1996) *

1987–1988 * Minister of Foreign Affairs 1988–1995

European Economic Area

Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson led Iceland's delegation while Iceland participated in forming the

European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Asso ...

Diplomatic career

Later he served as a diplomat in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

from 1998 to 2002 and to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and Lithuania from 2002 to 2005. Ambassador to

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

from 2004 to 2006. He recognized the

Baltic States The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

' independence in 1991, as the only western foreign minister to arrive on the scene in January 1991 when Gorbachev was at the brink of a military crack down. He has published a book detailing these experiences, titled "The Baltic road to freedom - Iceland's role" in 2017.

Legacy

In January 1991, after the bloodshed in Vilnius, he started the process of reestablishing diplomatic connections between Lithuania and Iceland. Thus Iceland was the first state to take a conflict with the Soviet Union to support Baltic freedom. In recognition, the square in front of Estonian Foreign Ministry in Tallinn is named as "Iceland Square", and on the grounds of the

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n Seimas (Parliament) the rocks of the last barricades from January 1991 bear the inscription "To Iceland – They Dared When Others Remained Silent". For his role in recognizing Lithuania's independence, Jón Baldvin was awarded Commander's Grand Cross of the

Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas is the Lithuanian Presidential Award which was re-instituted to honour the citizens of Lithuania for outstanding performance in civil and public offices. Foreign nationals may also be awarded this O ...

(1996), as well as Medal of 13 January and title of honorary citizen of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. He is also a recipient of the Estonian

Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana The Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (, also the Order of the Cross of St. Mary's Land) was instituted by the President of Estonia, Lennart Meri, on 16 May 1995 to honour the independence of the Estonian state. (The Latin name ''Terra Mariana'' ...

, 1st Class (1996) and the Latvian

Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars () is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is ''Per aspera ad astra'', meaning "Through hardships towards the ...

(3rd class). He was, purportedly, the first western foreign minister in the world to recognize

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

as a sovereign nation in 1991.

Sexual harassment scandal

In 2012, it was revealed that during the period 1998–2001, Jón Baldvin sent a number of sexually explicit letters to Guðrún Harðardóttir, a young niece of his wife. In one of the letters, Jón Baldvin graphically described having sex with his wife. Other letters contained sexually explicit and erotic themes. Guðrún, who was 14–17 years of age at the time, attempted to push charges against Jón Baldvin for sexual harassment in 2005, but investigations were dropped by police. Jón Baldvin's letters were revealed to the public by Guðrún in the monthly magazine ''

Nýtt Líf ''Nýtt Líf'' (, English: ''New Life'') is an Cinema of Iceland, Icelandic film directed by Þráinn Bertelsson and released in 1983. The film is a comedy shot in the Vestmannaeyjar, Westman Islands and stars Eggert Þorleifsson and Karl Ágú ...

'' in February 2012, and subsequently he issued statements on his personal website. In his statements, he denied that he had sexually harassed Guðrún, but apologized for a "lapse of judgment" in initiating the correspondence with her. In 2013, the scandal re-emerged when Jón Baldvin was invited to teach as guest lecturer at the University of Iceland. Following public objections to the hiring of him, the University of Iceland withdrew the invitation. Jón Baldvin protested the University's decision in a series of newspaper articles. After Jón Baldvin threatened to sue, due to there being no legal grounds for his firing, the University agreed to pay him 500.000 ISK in compensations and publicly apologized for how they handled the matter. In 2022, Icelandic media reported about accusations of sexual harassment during Jón Baldvin's time as a 31 year old teacher in 1970.

References

External links