[LINK] "A Viking union?"
Feb. 5th, 2009 11:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldThe Guardian's Gwladys Fouché reports that some Icelanders see a closer association with Norway as an alternative to European Union and Eurozone membership.
Iceland was originally settled from Norway in the 9th century and was part of the Norwegian kingdom until the Congress of Vienna when continental Norway was handed over to a personal union with Sweden and Norway's insular possessions (Iceland, Faroes, Greenland) went to Denmark. It seems unlikely that Norway will go for a monetary union with its much more troubled European neighbour, however, and new Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir still favours the European Union option.
While Iceland is debating whether applying for EU membership is really the best option to rescue its crisis-hit economy, there is another option on the table growing in popularity: monetary union with Norway.
None other than Iceland's new finance minister, Steingúrmur Sigfússon, is considering the idea of using the Norwegian crown as the country's currency – a move that would have been unthinkable only a few months ago.
Asked by the Norwegian daily Klassekampen on Friday whether this was a serious option, Sigfússon answered: "We hope so. It will be natural to talk about it when we celebrate our party's 10-year anniversary [this week]. Nordic socialist party leaders are invited and I hope of course that Kristin [Halvorsen, the Norwegian finance minister] will come."
Sigfússon is the leader of the Left-Greens, the most popular political party in Iceland today, while Halvorsen leads the Socialist Left party in Norway, the sister-party of Sigfússon's.
"A strong and deceptive belief in adopting the euro has emerged [in Iceland] even though Iceland is just as far away from complying with euro criteria as poor countries in eastern Europe," continued Sigfússon, whose party is strongly opposed to EU membership. "So we think that the possibilities of currency co-operation with the Nordic countries, preferably Norway, must be thoroughly investigated."
Iceland was originally settled from Norway in the 9th century and was part of the Norwegian kingdom until the Congress of Vienna when continental Norway was handed over to a personal union with Sweden and Norway's insular possessions (Iceland, Faroes, Greenland) went to Denmark. It seems unlikely that Norway will go for a monetary union with its much more troubled European neighbour, however, and new Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir still favours the European Union option.
