A new poll conducted by a professor of sociology shows that 54% of Icelanders are against joining the European Union, and the greatest opposition arises from distinct demographics.
It is the platform of the government that Iceland join the EU, and the country is currently in accession talks with the organisation. The matter remains a contentious one, however, and Icelanders have seldom shown a solid consensus on joining or not.
RÚV reports that a new online poll conducted by Rúnar Vilhjálmsson, a professor of sociology at the University of Iceland, shows that 54% of Icelanders are against joining the EU and only 27.5% support it. 18.7% said they were neutral on the matter. The poll was conducted over a period of two days, and sent out to 1,900 people of different ages, locations, levels of education and income. Of those reached, 67% responded.
The greatest opposition to joining the EU comes from people living in the countryside, and people with less education and lower incomes were also more likely to oppose joining the EU than those with university degrees and higher incomes. There is also strong opposition to join among people associating themselves with all of Iceland’s political parties, except for Social Democrats, where support was high.
Rúnar says the poll results show that people against joining the EU have a stronger opinion on the matter than those who support accession. As the question of joining will, if talks go well, lead to a public referendum on the matter, this stronger sense of conviction could lead to results quite different from the government’s wishes.
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