Inga Sæland says withdrawing Iceland’s EU application would be natural

Education and Children’s Minister Inga Sæland said withdrawing Iceland’s application to the European Union would be “the most natural thing in the world,” mbl.is reported on Thursday. She stressed that she is in a coalition government with two other parties and that the issue is not on their agenda.

Sæland was responding to a question from Jens Garðar Helgason, deputy leader of the Independence Party, during an unscheduled question session in Alþingi, Iceland’s parliament. He asked whether she would support a joint resolution proposed by opposition party leaders earlier this month, calling for an unequivocal confirmation that Iceland is not an EU applicant country.

Helgason said the People’s Party had submitted a similar proposal during six legislative sessions, most recently in 2024. Sæland said she recalled submitting it three times, in an effort to establish whether the application was still in force.

She declined to say how she or her party would vote on the opposition’s proposal, saying she respected the coalition partnership and followed it “with a smile.”