A Bloomberg report on Monday revealed that Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store stated that Norway should refrain from reopening the debate on potential EU membership amid rising geopolitical tensions, as it could deepen divisions within society.
“EU is very important politically, and we would like to seek very close partnership with them but membership has been tried twice in Norway,” Store said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Oslo on Friday, referring to past referendums.
He said, “It’s a very divisive, polarizing issue, and I believe that these times which we live through now are not the times where we should seek polarization,” adding, “We should seek unity.”
The Nordic nation, Western Europe's largest energy exporter, has access to the single market through the European Economic Area agreement. Additionally, its $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund provides it with the financial strength to stay outside the EU.
The country's next general election is scheduled for September 8.
Norway’s citizens, who rejected full EU membership in referendums in 1972 and 1994, have had shifting opinions on the issue.
The most recent poll, conducted by Opinion in February, revealed that 53% opposed joining, while a survey by Sentio last November recorded 47% in favor — the lowest support level since 2009.
Store, who has consistently expressed his support for EU membership, also noted that joining the union would not resolve Norway’s security concerns.
These concerns have intensified across Europe as President Donald Trump has indicated a preference for reducing the US role in defending European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
He said, “If we were to open these membership issues now, the question would be what answers would that provide,” adding, “The defense of Europe is not EU, it’s NATO.”
That said, Friedrich Merz, the center-right leader poised to become Germany's new chancellor, said on February 25 after his election victory on February 23 that his "priority...will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible" to "achieve real independence from the USA," highlighting a growing transatlantic divide.
A coalition of pro-European political parties in the European Parliament declared in a joint statement on February 25 that Europe can "no longer fully rely on the United States to defend our shared values and interests" and that it is "high time for Europe to step up its own security."