What was the position of Geir Haarde from May 2007 to Dec 2007?
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 Party from 2005 to 2009 . Since 23 February 2015 he has served as the Ambassador of Iceland to the United States and several Latin American countries . Geir initially led a coalition 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 . 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 , to Tomas Haarde , a Norwegian from Rogaland , and an Icelandic mother . He received his bachelors degree in the United States at Brandeis University as a Wien Scholar , graduating with a degree in economics , then went on to earn two Masters degrees – in international relations from the School of Advanced International Studies of The Johns Hopkins University and in economics from the University of Minnesota . Prior to entering the Althing ( the Icelandic Parliament ) , Geir was an economist at the Central Bank of Iceland 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 Alþings 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 . Following the announcement of Halldór Ásgrímssons 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 Geirs tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the dramatic financial crisis which engulfed Iceland from October 2008 . In less than a week , the countrys three major commercial banks ( Glitnir , Landsbanki and Kaupthing ) 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 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 , Icelands parliament , Althing , 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 to hear cases alleging misconduct in government office : it was the first time Landsdómur has convened since it was established in the 1905 Constitution . 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 . 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 Icelands 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 .