The elections to the Norwegian parliament in September brought many surprises. As FlashNord notes, for the first time in the Storting there were more MPs opposing the accession of the country to the European Union than those who are striving for European integration. In general, the issue of Norway's accession to the European Union is not relevant: most residents do not support this idea, but Norwegian politicians have always been very popular with it.

"The big question of Norwegian politics is not membership in the EU, but an agreement (about Norway's membership) in the European Economic Area," the newspaper Klassekampen. It is noted that the majority of the Storting deputies opposed the holding of a referendum on the revision of the terms of the EEA agreement.

However, the new parliament is ready to resolutely defend the national interests of Norway, up to a veto on the EU directives, if they contradict them, the newspaper underlines.. The issue of Norway's participation in the EU has been repeatedly submitted to a nationwide referendum. Thus, in 1972. 53.5% of Norwegians voted against joining the European Economic Community, and at the 1994 referendum, 52.2% of the population again refused to join the European Union. Opponents of the country's membership in the EU are united in the organization "No EU" (Nei til EU), it includes tens of thousands of people in all the communes of the Kingdom.