The president of Iceland has welcomed the news of Britain’s departure from the EU, saying it is good news for a northern “triangle”.
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, who through five terms in office has chalked up twenty years in power, believes that Brexit will increase the importance of northern European countries.
“This fundamentally changes the geopolitical situation in our part of the world. The North Atlantic neighbouring countries will have a new role,” Grímsson said.
“When Britain leaves the EU, we will see a triangle that covers a large part of the globe: Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway - and now the United Kingdom. One just needs to look at a globe to see it.”
“The Arctic, or the far north, will have an increasingly central role. It is about trade, diplomacy, commodities and several other fields. We will not only become more important in a European context, but in a global context.”
He recommended the creation of “a system of close cooperation”.
He also believes a much more relevant European Free Trade Association (EFTA) could result.
Earlier this month, the Norway parliament voted with a solid majority to accept EU rules regulating finance and insurance institutions in what some called the country’s “biggest concession of sovereignty” in years.
The bill means that the EFTA Surveillance Authority will have the power to verify that the Norwegian financial industry complies with EU rules.
Despite the majority vote, the No to the EU group called it “the biggest concession of sovereignty since the European Economic Area agreement” of 1994 and accused the government of tying Norway to institutions to which the people do not want to belong.
“The solution we have found means that most of the supervision of the Norwegian financial industry will still be performed by the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority,” Finance Minister Siv Jensen replied, adding that just a “very small area” of authority had been transferred to Brussels.
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