The Prime Minister of Iceland, Sigmundur Davið Gunnlaugsson, expects a resolution to be put forward soon in the Icelandic parliament to formally withdraw the country's application to join the European Union. Gunnlaugsson said this in an interview at the Icelandic radio station Bylgjan on Sunday. He also said steps towards removing the capitals controls, in place in Iceland since the financial crisis hit his country in the autumn of 2008, would likely be taken in this month.
Responding in the context of a Greek general election, UKIP leader Nigel Farage today said: “This move by Icelandic authorities and the increasing Mediterranean opposition to the EU shows that the idea of the inevitability of EU integration has been smashed. More and more people throughout Europe either no longer wish to join the EU or, as in Greece, to leave the Euro currency all together. Because Iceland had its own currency it could successfully bounce back from a financial crisis. Greece and other Mediterranean countries are caught inside the straightjacket of an unsuitable Euro currency and unsympathetic political union dominated by Germany. Encouraged by this Icelandic move, Greece should decouple from the euro, devalue its currency and grow its way back to prosperity with exports and tourism.”
