Provocative, funny and thoughtful \u2013 the North Atlantic pairing of J\u00f3n Baldvin and Bj\u00f8rt Samuelsen seem to prompt a subtle change of policy direction from the Scottish Government. Days later it announced the option of joining the EEA in any post-independence scenario would be added to their policy option list. Not bad for a long weekend in Edinburgh. But then J\u00f3n Baldvin is used to making an impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Like most Icelanders (with a part Norwegian\/ part Celt DNA) J\u00f3n Baldvin has lived at full throttle in a great many places. He began his higher education in Scotland rather than his beloved Iceland, with an MA in Economics from Edinburgh University in 1963. Why did he choose Edinburgh?<\/p>\n
A close friend, Dr. Hermann P\u00e1lsson, a prominent Icelandic scholar of Gaelic languages and culture and a professor at Edinburgh University, advised me to do so. But there was another and a more practical reason. The tuition fee at the time was less than 20 pounds sterling. Although I spent my summers as a deck-hand on board Icelandic deep-sea trawlers, earning a lot of money, the generosity of Scottish tax payers helped me make the right decision.<\/p>\n
J\u00f3n Baldvin then moved to Sweden and studied labor-market economics in the context of the Nordic model at Stockholm University, before returning home to do teacher training at the University of Iceland in 1965. \u201cIt was never a question of not returning home. We were four brothers. All studied abroad, all returned home.\u201d<\/p>\n
For many Scots, life as a teacher means the end of having controversial views \u2013 in public at least. Not J\u00f3n Baldvin. From 1964 until it closed three years later, J\u00f3n Baldvin was editor of Frj\u00e1ls \u00fej\u00f3\u00f0 (the Free Nation newspaper). Under his direction the paper even-handedly opposed the presence of American bases on Icelandic soil during peacetime and the United People\u00b4s Socialist Party for their meek subservience to the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n
J\u00f3n Baldvin continued as a teacher and journalist until 1970 when he became founder and rector of \u00cdsafj\u00f6r\u00f0ur College, in his hometown, the only FE college in the remote Westfjords region (1970-79), managing to fit in a year at Harvard before becoming editor of the Social Democratic Party-supporting newspaper Al\u00fe\u00fd\u00f0ubla\u00f0i\u00f0 for three years (1979\u20131982).<\/p>\n
He was a member of Parliament (Althingi \u2013 1982-98), leader of the Social-Democratic Party (1984-96) and Minister of Finance (1987\u20131988) before settling into the job he most relished \u2013 Icelandic Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade (1988\u20131995).<\/p>\n
That was when family connections became particularly useful:<\/p>\n
My eldest brother was the first one from Western Europe to graduate from Moscow University after the war. His expertise in Soviet affairs and contacts with dissidents came in handy, when I got involved as foreign minister of a NATO-country, in support of the Baltic countries\u00b4 independence struggle.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That momentous foreign policy move by tiny Iceland occurred in 1991 when J\u00f3n Baldvin recognized the independence of Lithuania \u2013 the only western foreign minister to arrive on the scene when Soviet troops tried to suppress the secession bid by attacking the TV station, killing 14 Lithuanian civilians and wounding 600 others. J\u00f3n Baldvin quickly began the process of establishing diplomatic connections between Lithuania and Iceland, and the Baltic state became a member of the United Nations six months later and a member of the EU in 2004. Today, in the grounds of the Lithuanian Parliament, one of the remaining barricades from January 1991 bears the inscription \u2018To Iceland \u2013 they dared when others remained silent\u2019. For his personal role in recognizing Lithuanian independence, J\u00f3n Baldvin was awarded the Commander’s Grand Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke and made an honorary citizen of Vilnius \u2013 and, more recently, an honorary doctor of Vilnius University.<\/p>\n
A few months after his bold trip to Lithuania, J\u00f3n Baldvin made Iceland the first nation to recognize the independence of Estonia and Latvia. He was later given the Estonian Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class, and today, a plaque commemorating Iceland\u2019s support sits on the wall of the Foreign Ministry in Tallinn. Its address makes an even greater statement of Estonia\u2019s enduring gratitude \u2013 Islandi v\u00e4ljak \u2013 \u2018Iceland Square\u2019. His important role in firming up the teetering steps of the new Republic of Latvia was recognized with the Order of the Three Stars (3rd class). Recently, Iceland\u00b4s role in support of the Baltic nations\u00b4 struggle for restored independence has been made the subject of a documentary film, \u201cThose Who Dare\u2026\u201d. This was a joint project of Icelandic and Baltic film producers. It has been shown on TV in many countries, especially in the Baltic and East European region. Perhaps it would be of interest for a Scottish audience?<\/p>\n
In December 1991, J\u00f3n Baldvin once again became the first foreign minister in the world to recognize a new sovereign nation as Croatia declared independence. Had he become a sort of patron saint of small nations struggling to escape from imperial control? Why?<\/p>\n
Well, I had become convinced that the breakup of the federation of Yugoslavia was inevitable. The international community should recognize that fact and, accordingly, assist in the establishment of the constituent republics, in an orderly manner \u2013 to avoid the outbreak of a bloody civil war. But, as usual, the major powers had different agendas. Subsequently they failed to prevent a cruel civil war in Europe\u00b4s backyard.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Later, J\u00f3n Baldvin served as Iceland\u00b4s Ambassador to the United States and Mexico (1998 to 2002), in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (2002 to 2005) and as ambassador to Ukraine from 2004 to 2006.<\/p>\n
But was it wise for the Foreign Minister of such a small country to run the risk of conflict with the Soviet Union by openly supporting Baltic freedom? In a recent interview J\u00f3n Baldvin said:<\/p>\n
The leaders of the West at the time were not following up on their rhetoric about democracy and national self-determination. Why not? Because they had, unwisely, placed all their bets for ending the Cold War on the political fate of President Gorbachev. Nothing should be said or done which undermined his position. If he were to be deposed, the hard-liners would come back. And there was a lot at stake. We might return to the Cold War \u2013 and even risk armed conflict in Eastern Europe.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That\u2019s why President Bush [Sr.] made his notorious \u2018chicken speech\u2019 in Kyiv in late 1991, appealing to the Ukrainians \u201cnot to succumb to extreme nationalism,\u201d but to remain loyal to the Soviet Union in the name of peace and stability. This speech by an American president would have been music to the ears of [Vladimir] Putin, who has long mourned the demise of the Soviet Union as \u201cthe greatest geo-strategic disaster of the twentieth century.<\/p>\n
This was why [German] Chancellor Kohl and [French] President Mitterrand jointly wrote a letter to [Lithuanian] President Landsbergis, appealing to him to postpone their declaration of independence and instead negotiate with the Soviets without preconditions. This is why US high officials gave the same message to the Baltic freedom fighters in Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn.<\/p>\n
And this is why, since the voices of the leaders of the Baltic independence movements were not listened to, I tried to lend my voice to theirs in Western forums \u2013 especially NATO. This is why I responded, alone among NATO foreign ministers, to Baltic leaders\u2019 appeal to come and stay with them in January 1991, when the Soviets had decided to use force to crack down on their independence movements and to bring about regime change.<\/p>\n
This is why, when the hard-liners\u2019 attempted coup d\u2019\u00e9tat in Moscow August 1991 had failed, I decided to use that window of opportunity \u2013 the power vacuum and confusion in Moscow at that time \u2013 to invite the foreign ministers of all three Baltic states to Reykjavik to formalize the recognition of their restored independence. By doing so, I hoped to start a process that would become irreversible. That turned out to be right. To my mind, this is an example of \u2018the solidarity of small nations\u2019 which, under the correct circumstances, can succeed when the leaders of major powers fail. (Kourosh Ziabar, Fair Observer 2015<\/a>).<\/p>\n
All of this took place before J\u00f3n Baldvin took the step that brought him to the attention of Scotland in 2016, masterminding Iceland\u2019s entry to the EEA in 1994 as Chief negotiator on the European Economic Area Agreement 1989-93.<\/p>\n
Here J\u00f3n Baldvin reflects on Iceland\u2019s decision to join EFTA in the 1970s and the EEA two decades later and explains how Iceland achieved exemptions on fishing and agriculture \u2013 the pros and cons of that \u2013 and the temporary post-crash desire to be in the Euro. By the way, J\u00f3n Baldvin welcomes the idea of an independent Scotland joining the EEA. The question is: Will Scotland manage to get a deal in EU negotiations, including exemptions from the common fisheries and agricultural policies, as Iceland managed to do in the early nineties, with strong support from their EFTA-partners?<\/p>\n
J\u00f3n Baldvin\u2019s answer \u2013 \u201cYou can only find out at the negotiating table.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
M\u00e1na\u00f0am\u00f3tin okt\/nov, 2016 var haldin r\u00e1\u00f0stefna \u00ed Edinborg um, hva\u00f0 sj\u00e1lfst\u00e6tt Skotland g\u00e6ti l\u00e6rt af reynslu Nor\u00f0urlanda\u00fej\u00f3\u00f0a \u00ed samskiptum vi\u00f0 Evr\u00f3pusambandi\u00f0.
\nJ\u00f3n Baldvin var me\u00f0al frams\u00f6gumanna. R\u00e6\u00f0a hans kalla\u00f0ist: Lesson from Iceland<\/a>. Erindin voru seinna (feb. 2017) gefin \u00fat \u00e1 b\u00f3k undir heitinu: McSm\u00f6rgaarsbord.
\nR\u00e6\u00f0a JbH er kafli \u00ed \u00feessari b\u00f3k. <\/p>\nR\u00e1\u00f0stefnustj\u00f3rinn, Lesley Riddoch, forma\u00f0ur samtakanna “Nordic Horizons” \u00ed Skotlandi skrifar eftir farandi inngang til kynningar \u00e1 r\u00e6\u00f0umanni:<\/p>\n
J\u00f3n Baldvin Hannibalsson is an Icelandic politician and diplomat who led the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and was responsible for Iceland\u2019s entry to the EEA in the 1990s.
\nThat\u2019s an accurate but wholly inadequate description of the seventy-something who bounded into Scotland to speak at Nordic Horizons\u2019 Brexit conference, wowed the audience, met Nicola Sturgeon and Mike Russell along with Faroese MP Bjort Samuelsen and then bounced onto STV\u2019s Scotland Tonight the same evening before flying back to Iceland with his wife Brynd\u00eds Schram, an actress, linguist, writer and TV personality.
\nHis short but pithy TV contribution was still doing the rounds on YouTube as J\u00f3n Baldvin touched down at Keflavik. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allar_greinar","category-articles-in-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1445"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2647,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445\/revisions\/2647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jbh.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}