Norway should join the EU, says opposition leader
https://www.politico.eu/article/norway-should-join-eu-says-opposition-leader/
Posted by rintzscar
Norway should join the EU, says opposition leader
https://www.politico.eu/article/norway-should-join-eu-says-opposition-leader/
Posted by rintzscar
38 Comments
Still only 1/3 of Norwegians in favor of membership.
Are Høyre in opposition right now? I thought they got rekt at the last election. Desperately vying for 3rd or 4th place.
A new sugar Daddy for the EU, nice
Well they supply enough of Europe’s oil and gas to do so
I loved Norway and norwegian when visiting, they absolutely have their place should they decide to join.
Still their decision though, we cannot afford to have people “half in” anymore, the world is too hostile.
Norwegian here.
Majority of Norwegians actively dont want to join the EU, and this number has not gotten more favourable through the years. Even in the most EU biased polls, its still allways a majority that actively dont want to join.
Norway joining EU is something we will never see unless something insanely drastic happens, i.e Russia invades Scandinavia.
Norway has absolutely nothing to gain from joining the EU.
Edit: since a lot of people here are more into writing than reading.
Norway is western Europe’s single biggest producer of Oil and Gas, while our own country is powered by renewable energy. ONLY Russia produces more Oil and Gas.
After Covid and with the Breakout of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Norway was more or less powering the whole of Germany with its gas and oil and electricity.
On the Outside we are 5m, but we still produce the most Oil and Gas in the whole of Western Europe, and in Europe only beaten by Russia.
Sweden has fantastic civillian and military infrastructure industry, Volvo Trucks and Scandia are almost 35%-40% of all trucks in Europe, and Volvo Trucks have the biggest marketshare of any truck producer in Europe, and dont get me ranting and nerding out on their military equipment. Denmark has incredibly big business like NovoNordisk and Lego that both are the biggest companies in the whole world in their industries. While Norway is the biggest producer of Oil and Gas in Europe(only behind Russia). Combined our countries are a total or 22m people. We do not need anyone but eachother, and we certainly do not need or want the EU. The EU however needs Norway, because of the Oil and Gas production, leading to the extremly favourable EEA deals for Norway, so EU can get a hold of some of that Oil and Gas.
Easy to say that in the opposition when you know you don’t have the mandate to push it through…
A modern problem is politcians no longer represent people but act and speak as a class above concerned with these higher level issues and equally are loyal to these more than to people.
For such a reason modern politics is not democracy in the West at all, but Technocracy.
This politician may well have very sound intellectual reasons in this framing to change the current relationship complexity of EFTA/EEA to EU/EZ.
However, she is then acting as de facto executive of power not representative of people power.
As such, on this basis alone without a deep dive into the details of the complex policy and agreements I would reject all such candidates and their positions…
Fundamentally you do not have a demos or a nation if you do not being the people along first, but see them as an obstacle to the frameworks above them from progressing.
Really hope they do. Its their natural hinterland…
Iceland joining, Norway next, please god.
At somw point UK down the line i imagine…
Do they say this just for the sake of being against what the ruling coalition is for (obviously not joining the EU)?
Would it be awkward for Norway if Iceland joined first?
And then everybody starts buying European, and we all live in beautiful harmony having abolished most of the tax evasion
The Norwegians against joining is our version of MAGA
Watching Europe struggle to deal with internal division inside the EU caused by Hungary doesn’t really strengthen the case for Norway joining the EU. Norway has a strong consensus/compromise based democracy. So trading a part of that away to join the EU and be a part of the rule making to then just have some random toad decide what’s not going to happen is not a big plus for Norwegians.
Norwegians can’t see loss of sovereignty for limited influence as a good deal.
Norway, where the opposition is saying how good the EU is.
What the fuck are they doing and we are not?
Why would they ever give up their oil fund in exchange for being hit by the same crises plaguing the rest of the EU?
As a Greek, i can understand Norwegians’ hesitation to join EU in its current form. As a deeply pro-EU person myself, I believe Norway will change its opinion when the EU becomes more worthy. There are A LOT to be fixed
The weekly “Norway join EU” post. I think im beginning to understand the obession with Norway joining, perfect time to get charity.
As a Norwegian I would be loathe to join a union who’s balls are being squeezed by the likes of Orban and Fico.
The union is a failed one if the likes of these two can halt any progress.
Beyind that, keep away from our oil money, our electricity and our fish and agriculture.
I wish we had such opposition 😄
You are our friends. You are invited.
Hah, fuck off. Until the EU has democracy in lawmaking, we are better off.
I get why Norwegians wouldn’t want to join, as they “have it good”, but IMHO it’s a missed opportunity for them.
Their situation wouldn’t change much, not really, but they would get an immensely important decision maker position with veto rights.
Also, being the only oil producing EU country would be even more important for them.
Thanks but no thanks.
We’d love to welcome you norwegians 🙂
And ukrainians also!
Why are certain Europeans so fixated on the idea of limitless enlargement?
They take other countries not joining as some kind of slight. The EU can work just fine without stretching to all the corners of Europe.
In fact, given its current set up, it’s preferable if it doesn’t. Too many members means more unmanageability.
Norway is for most intents and purposes tied to the EU without a say in the policies. It’s their choice not to have a voice, but from an EU perspective, it’s mostly all the benefits without the downsides.
While Im absolutely in favor of them joining, it is not likely to happen at all. They are already part of the EEA and have a lot of the EU benefits because of that.
So the option is not Norway alone vs Norway in the EU, but Norway as EU partner vs Norway in the EU. They will weigh the benefits and drawbacks of that. And considering they are very rich, they would likely have to pay into the EU more than they get out of it, at least financially.
indeed she says, and she’s also connected to a major client on the Epstein list
The only thing I’m desperate from Norway is cod fish.
Wouldn’t Sweden veto that? 😉
Would Norway pay more into the EU budget if it was a member, as opposed to now?
**Norwegians voted against joining the EU in 1994. Now it’s time to ask them again, said leader of country’s conservative opposition party.**
March 19, 2026 7:45 pm CET
By [Nicholas Vinocur](https://www.politico.eu/author/nicholas-vinocur/)
BRUSSELS — Norway should reapply to become a member of the European Union in light of their shared security challenges — namely Russia — the leader of the country’s conservative opposition party told POLITICO.
The oil-rich Nordic nation [applied to join the EU](https://www.norway.no/en/missions/eu/areas-of-cooperation/historical-overview/) in 1992, but the bid was rejected in a referendum two years later. Since then, Norway has been a member of the European Economic Area, which means it adopts many of the EU’s rules and regulations, as well as being a member of NATO.
But with wars and growing threats around the world, the arms-length relationship between Brussels and Oslo is no longer fit for purpose, argued Ine Eriksen Søreide, who was [elected leader of Norway’s conservative party](https://www.norwegianamerican.com/ine-eriksen-soreide-elected-as-leader-of-the-conservative-party/) last month.
“In my opinion, and my party’s opinion, we would be best served by being full members of the EU,” she said in an interview on Thursday as EU leaders were convening for a summit in Brussels.
“I’ve been talking consistently about the need for a constructive debate based on the EU as it is today, not as it was in 1994 … and saying very clearly and loudly” that Norway’s interests lie inside the 27-member bloc, added Søreide, who was defense minister from 2013 to 2017 and foreign minister from 2017 to 2021.
A recent [spat between Oslo and Brussels over ferro-alloys](https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_2698) (additives in steelmaking) had underscored the drawbacks of being outside the union, said Søreide.
The spat, during which the EU imposed restrictions on imports from Norway, “very clearly illustrated that we are a part of the [EU] internal market … but that doesn’t help if something comes from the outside like these protective measures.”
[Iceland’s potential bid](https://www.politico.eu/article/iceland-could-be-eus-28th-member-foreign-minister-thorgerdur-katrin-gunnarsdottir-says/) to join the EU is another spur for Oslo to seek membership in the bloc.
“If Iceland then decides in a referendum to reopen negotiations, it’s a very different ballgame,” she said. “I’m not suggesting that what Iceland does will in itself change the view of Norwegians, but it can lead to certain institutional changes and also a kind of different approach for the EU, making it more difficult for us to be on the outside.”
Beyond benefits on trade, Søreide listed defense, space, health and Arctic security as areas where Oslo would benefit from full EU membership. The fact that Norway isn’t part of the EU, but nevertheless transposes its laws, means that the country is “missing out in so many areas,” she said.
While Norway had transposed some 14,000 legal acts from the EU into national law in recent years, the country nonetheless gets no say in setting the bloc’s agenda or weighing in on its strategic orientations. The ferro-alloy case shows how Oslo can be seen as “a second-tier member” of the club, Søreide added.
# ‘More open’ today
The question of Norway’s EU membership has come up repeatedly during the past 30 years, with voters typically deciding not to join the bloc.
Norway [applied for EU membership in 1992](https://www.norway.no/en/missions/eu/areas-of-cooperation/historical-overview/) along with Finland, Sweden and Austria, but ultimately voted against membership in a referendum — with 52.2 percent against and 47.8 percent in favor — while the other three countries opted to join.
In recent years, polls have shown that a majority remains against joining the bloc, with concerns about protecting Norway’s vast energy wealth outweighing the benefits of membership. Norway’s parliament has a majority of MPs opposed to membership.
However, support for joining the EU has [ticked up over the past 18 months](https://www.chathamhouse.org/2025/04/join-or-not-join-norway-edging-closer-eu) amid tensions in the transatlantic relationship and U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of seizing Greenland. A tense exchange of leaked messages between Trump and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre — in which the former criticized the latter for not granting him the Nobel Peace Prize — drove home concerns about the transatlantic relationship for many Norwegians.
On the prospect of EU membership, Søreide said it was unlikely to materialize “immediately.” Indeed, Norway’s current government has not shown interest in launching a national debate about membership, and the next parliamentary elections aren’t until 2029.
But Søreide said that attitudes toward membership were shifting. “I do sense … there is a more open approach to the issue in Norway,” she said. “Now when you hear debates among everything from the business sector to large private sector organizations to people on the street, there is a difference in tone.”
The conservative party leader also criticized Norway’s Labour Party minority government, which is backed by a center-left coalition, for making the subject of EU membership taboo.
“I’m very disappointed and also quite surprised that the government, a Labour government, has kind of put even the debate off for the next four years,” she said, adding she found the approach “very strange in this situation.”
Søreide’s Høyre party is currently the third most popular in Norway, with about 18 percent support, according to [POLITICO’s Poll of Polls](https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/norway/). But that share has been inching up in recent months.
Asked about her own plans, she said she aimed to make her party “significantly bigger than we did in the last election, which was a very poor election for us,” and would seek to become prime minister in 2029.
To my fellow Norwegians, don’t forget the threats of sanctions by the EU against us.
No we shouldn’t, says 70% of the population.
The centre left and centre right (translated: labour and conservatives) have always been pro EU. And is one of the clearest examples of the divide between the political elites and the citizens.
Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide is the leader of Høyre (The Conservatives), which is not currently the biggest opposition party. The biggest opposition party, Fremskrittspartiet (Progress Party, Conservative to far right) is against EU membership. Less than a third of Norwegian favor joining the EU in polls, more people oppose it. This isn’t news, there’s no EU debate in Norway atm.
For me, Norway is the country most at risk from a joint American and Russian WTF operation. There are just way too many stakes for Trump and Putin to leave them alone. Their wealth fund, their fossil fuels, the Nobel Peace Prize, Svalbard, their EVs, the Epstein connections and their remaining out of the EU. All this makes Norway a designated target, alas.