Iceland’s current Coalition government is at risk of being torn apart over the handling of the country’s proposed EU membership bid, a top official has said.
The comments came at the weekend via Foreign Minister Ossur Skarphedinsson, who stressed that tensions were rising between parties on whether or not the North Atlantic nation should continue to pursue membership to the EU amid the continent’s ongoing financial woes.
He said in an interview with Iceland radio network RUV, “We made an agreement, which the Social Democratic Alliance agreed to as well as the other government party. If the situation arises that the government parties feel they can’t stick to that agreement, we of course have to totally re-evaluate the situation.”
The news follows the country’s 2009 bid to become a member state of the European Union after the collapse of the Icelandic banking sector. However, two Left Green Party ministers have since said that Iceland needed to re-evaluate the bid as a result of the euro crisis.
Mr Skarphedinsson said that despite Iceland’s economic comeback, the Left Greens must not U-turn on the commitment. He added that, “History teaches us that it can have all sorts of consequences.”