EU move divides Icelandic politics
Vigdís Hauksdóttir MP. Photo: Rax
“In my view, Iceland is still a candidate country,” says Guðmundur Steingrímsson, leader of the Bright Future (‘Björt framtið’), in response to the recent move of the European Union (EU) to remove Iceland from its list of countries having applied for membership.
“For the Minister for Foreign Affairs to think that accession negotiations can be halted in this way is just ridiculous,” says Steingrímsson. “If a new government […] chooses to continue negotiations, it will of course be pointed out that the process was not stopped in the way that it should have been. […] It was the Icelandic Parliament that formally decided to apply for membership and it is of course only Parliament – or the people – that can stop Iceland’s negotiations.”
Vigdís Hauksdóttir, MP for the Progressive Party (‘Framsóknarflokkurinn’) does not share Steingrímsson’s view and welcomes the fact that the EU has “at long last taken account of our wishes as an independent and sovereign State and removed us from its list of candidate countries”.
“It was high time – I am, in fact, surprised at how long this has taken. But it has now happened and we should welcome the fact,” Hauksdóttir concludes.
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