Iceland review - 2012, Page 51

ICELAND REVIEW 49
vetoed a measure of the Icelandic govern-
ment—the proposal to pay the governments
of Britain and the Netherlands for their
bailouts of customers of private Icelandic
banks. The President’s veto was upheld by
the people of Iceland when they voted on
the measure in March 2010. This is known
as the Icesave dispute. On February 20, 2011,
the president again vetoed an effort by the
Icelandic government to pay (over a period
of years) money to the governments of
Britain and the Netherlands. In a referendum
held on April 9, 2011, Icelanders rejected
for a second time a proposal to pay USD 5 
billion to Britain and the Netherlands. Nearly
60 percent of the Icelandic people rejected
the government’s proposal. The President’s
veto was upheld by the people and the gov-
ernment now needs to find a way to solve
this issue.