Wants To Make Iceland “Norway’s 20th County”

A group of Icelanders are aiming to have the country brought under the administration of the Norwegian government as “Norway’s 20th county”.

The group in question, Fylkisflokkurin (“The County Party”), already has just over 1,200 members at the time of this writing.

The group, formed by director of the National Center of Addiction Medicine (SÁÁ) and former Fréttablaðið editor Gunnar Smári Egilsson, purports in their mission statement that they aim for “the re-uninfication of Iceland and Norway”, wherein “the Norwegian government would constitutionally protect and promote Icelandic culture while Icelanders would enjoy all the same rights as Norwegians.”

“Iceland is just too small to raise up talented politicians,” Gunnar elaborated. “It is also too small to raise and nurture properly talented people.”

Gunnar also compiled a list of Icelandic institutions, and their costs in tax money, that could be brought under Norwegian administration and ease the financial burden they place on Iceland.

The Icelanders who have joined the group have contributed to a lively discussion of the idea. Icelandic artist Jón Óskar speculated on what Iceland’s flag would look like. Another Icelander wondered if the Norwegians would accept Iceland as a 20th county, while Pirate Party MP Birgitta Jónsdóttir said she supports the idea and has in fact supported it “for a few years.”

As many readers might know, most of the first settlers to Iceland hailed from Norway, and the two countries enjoyed a shared Nordic culture. Iceland was officially brought under the rule of Norway in 1262 until 1380, when the Danish-led Kalmar Union went into effect.

No response from Norwegian officials has been reported at the time of this writing.