Iceland should join EU - Bjork
2008-11-07 16:03
Brussels - Icelandic singer Bjork said on Thursday that joining the European Union was "the only way" forward for her economically troubled country.
Speaking in Brussels to promote environmentally friendly plans to boost the economy, the Icelandic songstress admitted to being only a recent student of economics and politics.
"Usually I don't notice politics. I can quite happily live in the land of music-making normally," she told a press conference.
However asked whether it was time for Iceland to get under the EU umbrella she replied: "Right now I would say it looks like its the only way."
She said she had talked to hundreds of start-up companies seeking to help Iceland remould its economy, formally based around fishing, in the hope of stopping large-scale and non-environmentally friendly exploitation of its energy reserves, such as through the recent setting up of massive aluminium smelters.
Stabilise the country
All those she has spoken to "say that at the top of the list, they need the euro to stabilise the currency, so I would go for that," she said, warning that Icelandic unemployment could hit 20% by Christmas.
Iceland, like Norway, is not an EU member.
Before it could adopt the euro it would have to satisfy all the criteria for joining the 27-nation EU followed by the strict economic and budget criteria for joining the 15-nation Euro zone.
Bjork was speaking as part of the United Nations Information Centre for Western Europe's launch of its CoolPlanet2009 public information campaign, to raise awareness on environmental issues.
Bjork recently launched the "climate friendly informal ecological movement" Nattura to promote green economy initiatives.
Iceland's once booming financial sector has collapsed under the weight of the worldwide credit crunch, forcing the government last month to take control of the major banks as its currency has nosedived.
Some European countries say they will support an IMF loan and emergency EU aid to Iceland only if Reykjavik settles a dispute over frozen British assets, an Icelandic member of parliament said on Thursday.