Diana Wallis - Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber

New Icelandic PM welcomed: "open minded on EU"

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 15th Sep 2004

Diana Wallis with Mr. Asgrimsson

Diana Wallis MEP with Mr. Asgrimsson during a visit to Iceland earlier this year

Commenting on the succession of the liberal Progressive Party Leader and Foreign Minister Halldor Asgrimsson as Iceland's Prime Minister today, Diana Wallis MEP said,

"As a fellow liberal I welcome Halldor Asgrimsson's succession as Prime Minister of Iceland. He is Iceland's first Prime Minister from a party other than the Independence Party. This is remarkable enough, but as a long serving Foreign Minister he also brings a great deal of experience to the job.

"Mr. Asgrimsson clearly has a more open-minded view of the European Union than outgoing premier Mr. David Oddsson who has in fact long been hostile to Iceland's potential membership."

"I think we will have to wait to see what this change will mean for Iceland's relationship with the EU, but for a country that has never applied to join, this could be a significant development."

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