The majority of Icelanders remain opposed to joining the European Union, yet another poll shows. Conducted by the television station Stöð 2 and by the newspaper Fréttablaðið, it concluded that 53.9% of respondents polled were against Iceland joining the EU, whilst 46.1% supported it. By contrast, 70% supported joining the EU last November, when the economic crisis had just begun to take hold and the previous government was still in power.
Fréttablaðið, breaking the results down by party affiliation, found that members of the pro-EU Social Democrats naturally showed the strongest support, with 77.5% in favor and 22.5% against. Among the other two parties in the current minority government, Left-Green voters showed the strongest opposition, with 61.8% against, and 38.2% supporting. Among Progressives, 40% support joining the EU while 60% oppose it. Support was lowest among Conservatives, with 26.5% supporting and 73.5% against. The majority of those polled who were either undecided or did not want to reveal their party affiliation were also against joining the EU.
800 people across the country were called, and 603 (or 75.4%) responded. They were asked, “Should Iceland apply for entry into the EU?”