A majority of Finns would give the green light for their Nordic neighbour Iceland to join the European Union, according to a survey commissioned by commercial broadcaster MTV3. But they are far less welcoming to other current or possible applicant states.
Icelandic membership was supported by 84 percent of respondents. Iceland began membership negotiations in 2010 but has yet to formally apply to join the union. Norway is the only other of the five Nordic states to stay out of the EU so far. Meanwhile Finland and Sweden are the only non-NATO members.
Sceptical about the Balkans
Turkish EU membership was only backed by one in five of those polled. Nearly 70 percent said no.
Finns are also reluctant to allow Balkan states to join, although former Yugoslavian countries Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia are already official EU candidate states. Forty-five percent of Finns would not let any of these countries join the European club. Just over one fifth would allow them all in, with another fifth saying some should be approved.
The MTV3 survey was carried out by Think If Laboratories, which sets the margin of error at three percentage points. A total of 1760 Finns responded to the public opinion poll.
On July 1, Croatia became the 28th EU member state. Finland joined in 1995.
