Merely 19 percent of Norwegians below the age of 30 would like their country to join the EU, a new survey by pollster NHO has concluded, derailing the common argument that the young people's opinion on the bloc, allegedly ignored, would have made a difference.
At the same time, wholly 74 percent of the same age group are in favour of international cooperation, indicating that they are quite content with the current European Economic Area (EEA) arrangement that allows Norway to enjoy numerous EU benefits such as free trade, without ceding its sovereignty to Brussels. Furthermore, critics of the current deal, including the Centre Party, have voiced their desire to re-negotiate it on still more favourable terms.
Ola Svenneby, the leader of Young Conservatives, the youth wing of Norway's largest right-wing and pro-EU party, said he is not surprised by the poll.
“The big movement for EU membership has been dormant since the financial crisis. We must take self-criticism for having failed to better highlight the positive aspects”, Svenneby told the newspaper Klassekampen. He doesn't believe that his party is out of step with the voters, as no party gets a majority of the ballot in Norway.
The Conservatives want Norway to join the EU now and believe that a new referendum should be held on this.
The last referendum on joining the EU Union was held in Norway in November 1994. After a heated debates, the “no” side won with 52.2 percent of the vote. Previously, membership in what was then the European Community had been rejected in a 1972 referendum, and by French veto in 1962.
In November 2021, Liberal Party leader Guri Melby penned an opinion piece for national broadcaster NRK, in which she emphasised that Norwegians under the age of 45 have not had the chance to directly influence the country's ties to the EU. She also contested that the next time will be the young people's turn to speak up.
“The last time we had this debate was in 1994. I was 13 years old. Since then, we have not had an informed public debate about the EU. Many are not aware of the positive aspects, and many take the good in the EEA agreement for granted”, she told Klassekampen.
She called the recent poll “a positive starting point” and confirmed her party's desire for EU accession, citing the conflict in Ukraine. According to her, Russia's special operation put Europe in a demanding situation and emphasised the necessity of upholding values seen as European.
On 24 February, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the newly-recognised breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Kiev's provocations and increased shelling. In the West, though, the operation has been broadly portrayed as an “invasion”, prompting package after package of sanctions and batch after batch of arms to Kiev.