Swedish opposition to introducing euro increases

Jun 15, 2011, 8:49 GMT

Stockholm - Swedish opposition to introducing the euro in the Scandinavian country has increased, a new survey published Wednesday suggested.

About 64 per cent opposed introducing the euro in May compared to 58 per cent in November, the Statistics Sweden survey said.

The poll also said that those who supported Swedish membership in the eurozone had dropped from 28.5 per cent in November to about 24 per cent in May. Around 12 per cent were undecided.

A majority, 52 per cent, said that on the whole they supported Swedish membership of the European Union, a drop of 3 percentage points on November, Statistics Sweden said.

Meanwhile, opposition to EU membership as well as the number of those who were undecided on the subject increased in May compared to November. In May those opposed to Swedish membership in the bloc had increased 2 percentage points to 21 per cent.

Sweden joined the EU in 1995 but in a 2003 referendum voted against introducing the euro.

Statistics Sweden said 6,147 people were interviewed by telephone from May 1 to 26.