Iceland joining the EU the 'only way,' says Bjork
Enigmatic Icelandic pop-star Bjork has said that joining the European Union seems like "the only way" to escape the severe economic crisis her country is undergoing.
The singer made the remark in Brussels, while supporting the United Nations Information Centre for Western Europe's launch of "CoolPlanet2009," a campaign to raise awareness on environmental issues and to mobilise citizens in support of a new climate agreement.
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Asked by reporters after the launch of the campaign on Thursday (6 November) whether the crisis required the north Atlantic nation joining the EU, the singer replied: "Right now I would say it looks like it's the only way."
The campaign launch was also backed by Margot Wallstrom, vice-president of the European Commission; Gro Harlem Brundtland, United Nations Special envoy on climate change and Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and current vice-chair of the Club of Madrid.
The centre piece of the campaign will be a website to be launched early 2009 that will include information on climate change and how individuals can act in a climate friendly manner in their daily lives.
The aim is to build a groundswell of support amongst the public ahead of the Copenhagen COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference. The December 2009 conference is expected to establish a new global climate agreement for the period from 2012 when the first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol expires.
Bjork has increasingly taken an interest in the financial crisis and the environment. In late October, she wrote an opinion piece for the Times of London in which she argued that the crisis was the fault of bankers and multinational corporations and that the solution was a return to small-scale environmentally friendly enterprise.
Having spoken to a number of small businesses in Iceland, the singer is now convinced that the euro must be adopted in her home country.
Icelandic small businesses "say that at the top of the list, they need the euro to stabilise the currency, so I would go for that," she said.
She also worried that unemployment on the island could reach 20 percent by the end of the year.