Iceland PM predicts euro adoption 'within four years'
Agence France-Presse
21 April 2009, 18:09 CET
(REYKJAVIK) - Iceland's prime minister said Monday EU membership would be the government's top priority if it wins Saturday's general election, and predicted the country would adopt the euro within four years.
"It is important to apply for (EU) membership right away, so that people can see what we can get," Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir of the Social Democratic Party told daily Morgunbladid in its online edition.
"I predict that in four years we will have adopted the euro," she added.
"We will defend our resources, our fisheries and agricultural policy," she said just days before Iceland goes to the polls in a general election in which European Union membership is one of the main campaign issues.
Sigurdardottir has headed an interim left-wing government since early February, after the former government headed by conservative Independence Party leader Geir Haarde resigned amid massive public outrage over the country's financial and economic meltdown.
Icelandic voters are deeply divided about European Union membership, with many wary of relinquishing sovereignty to Brussels and keen to protect their fishing industry.
Fishing is now the foundation of the Icelandic economy, after the collapse of the country's oversized financial sector last autumn sent the economy and currency into freefall.
The most recent poll, published in early March, showed that a strong majority of Icelanders -- 64.2 percent -- were in favour of starting EU membership talks, but only 39.7 percent wanted to actually join the 27-member bloc.
Of the parties running in Saturday's election, only the prime minister's Social Democrats, which are leading in public opinion polls, are clearly in favour of joining the EU.
Its coalition ally, the Left-Green Movement, is currently opposed to EU membership, as is the Independence Party.
The latter has however called for a referendum on whether to start membership talks to clarify the situation once and for all, and, if need be, another on any agreement that is reached.
Sigurdardottir said she remained convinced that her Social Democrats and the Left Greens could reach an agreement on the EU issue and thereby continue in a coalition after Saturday's election.
"I believe that we will succeed in leading the nation into the EU, which is the future for the Icelandic nation," she said.
