Volcanoes And Migrants Are Causing Political Uphevals In Iceland

Blowing Up Iceland A volcano was predicted to erupt just as Icelanders head to the polls to elect a new parliament. The head of “deformation measurements” at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, Benedikt Gunnar Ófeigsson, told Iceland Monitor in an interview that “magma accumulation” under the volcano system of Svartsengi on the island’s southwest Reykjanes Peninsula was growing and likely to blow at the end of the month. He was right. The latest of seven eruptions this year, on Nov. 24 magma sped out about 20 miles from the capital of Reykjavik. But it isn’t likely to disrupt voting when polls open on Nov. 30. Still, the eruptions have been causing headaches for the government, especially political. After only six months in office, Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson called the elections in mid-October when the government’s coalition of Benediktsson’s center-right Independence Party and the moderate Progressive Party and Left Green Movement collapsed. The three parties failed to agree on immigration, energy, and economic policies, the Associated Press reported. Among the policies was the government’s reaction to eruptions in the southwest that have displaced thousands and strained the economy, which was already suffering from high inflation and interest rates, Reuters added. Iceland is still recovering from the 2008 financial crisis when its banks collapsed. Ironically, volcanoes, the Northern Lights, and other magnificent sites have created a boom in the tourist industry on the island. Still, voters appear to want change. The new, pro-change, pro-European Union Liberal Reform Party is set to win around 20 percent of the vote, or around the same as the opposition Social Democratic Alliance political party, according to the Iceland Review. The Independence Party was expected to garner a record-low number of votes while the Left-Green Movement might lose all its seats. Voters aren’t flocking to the Centre Party either. Former prime minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, who formerly ran the Progressive Party, founded the Centre Party in 2017 after the Panama Papers exposed his unreported offshore accounts, triggering quite a scandal. Since then, he has used his position to espouse xenophobic views about migrants and immigrants who some say have provided a vital pool of labor for the country of fewer than 400,000 people. Many of these migrants, the majority of which come from Eastern Europe, work in tourism. “This influx has been vital for sustaining Iceland’s labor force, contributing significantly to wealth creation,” wrote Elías Þórsson in the Reykjavík Grapevine. Until recently, Iceland had seen very little migration or population growth in prior decades. Now, however, some complain the migrants, now almost a quarter of the population, are causing a spike in crime and that the country needs tighter borders. Even so, the big question now is Iceland’s future with the EU. The country began its application to join the bloc in 2008 under the Social Democrats, explained the New Federalist. But their successors – including multiple governments that included Benediktsson’s Independence Party – hit pause on the process in 2013. The frontrunners appear ready to restart it. According to the magazine, on the question of joining the EU, the “yes” vote would likely win. Share this story