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

prime minister of Iceland The prime minister of Iceland () is head of government of the Republic of Iceland. The prime minister is appointed formally by the president of Iceland, president and exercises executive authority along with the Cabinet of Iceland, cabinet subje ...

from 15 June 2006 to 1 February 2009, and as president of the

Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomo ...

in 1995. Geir was chairman of the Icelandic Independence Party from 2005 to 2009. From 2015 to 2019 he served as the ambassador of Iceland to the United States and several Latin American countries. Since 2019 he has been a chief representative at the

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Group ...

. Geir initially led a

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

between his party and the Progressive Party. 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 a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Iceland, political party in Iceland. The party is positioned on the Centre-left politics, centre-left of the political spectrum and their ...

. 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'', 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 city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

, to Tomas Haarde, a Norwegian from

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. As of 1 January 2024, it had a population of 49 ...

, 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 Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

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 a postgraduate 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 prac ...

– in

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

from the School of Advanced International Studies of The

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

and in economics from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. Prior to entering the

Althing The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Parliament, national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ('Thing (assembly), thing ...

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

Central Bank of Iceland The Central Bank of Iceland (, ) is the central bank or reserve bank of Iceland. It is owned by the Icelandic government, and is administered by a governor and a seven-member supervisory board, elected by the country's parliament following ea ...

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 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 Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Iceland), foreign minis ...

. 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 15 September 2004 to 15 June 2006 and was the leader of the Progressive Party from 1994 to 2006. Ed ...

'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 for 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 Bank run#Systemic banki ...

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

Kaupthing Kaupthing Bank (, ) 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-based operations were ...

) 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. Elected as an MP from 1978 to 2013, she was appointed as Iceland's Minister of Social Affairs and Social ...

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 '' Landsdómur'', 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 singl ...

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, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. 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 risk Financial risk is any of various types of risk associated with financing, including financial transactions that include company loans in risk of default. Often it is understood to include only downside risk, meaning the potential for financi ...

s 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. 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 Par ...

Living people

Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies alumni

University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni Brandeis International Business School alumni