About Half Of Icelanders Want To Stay Out Of EU

A new Gallup poll shows most Icelanders are still resistant to joining the European Union.

Kjarninn reports that 50.1% of respondents said they were opposed to Iceland joining the EU, 34.2% supported it, and 15.6% were neither for nor against it. The poll was conducted by Gallup at the behest of Heimssýn, an organisation opposed to Iceland joining the EU.

The greatest amount of opposition to accession came from voters of the parties currently in power. 95% of Progressive Party voters are against joining the EU, as are 83% of Independence Party voters.

As always, the highest levels of support for accession came from Social Democrat voters, 78% of whom said they were in favour of Iceland joining the EU. About 66% of Bright Future voters said the same, as did 40% of Pirate Party voters. Only 33% of Left-Greens voters would like to see Iceland join the European Union.

If those respondents who were decidedly neutral on the subject are removed from the equation, then 59.4% of Icelanders are opposed to EU accession and 40.6% support it. As accession talks with the EU officially came to an end last spring, those opposed can probably breathe a little easier.