Only one fifth of Finnish people would support a referendum on whether Finland should stay in the European Union, a new Yle-commissioned poll by Taloustutkimus shows.
More than 70 percent of respondents oppose a new referendum outright. But if one were to be held, 62 percent of respondents would vote to stay, while about one in ten respondents say they would not vote at all.
Finland voted to join the EU in 1994, with 57 percent of those voting supporting membership and 43 percent opposed. If that poll were re-run now the Yle poll suggests the ‘Stay’ camp may have swelled to 62 percent, with just 19 percent voting to leave.
The Yle poll suggests that even those who were too young when the 1994 EU membership vote was held are not excited by the idea.
The youngest age group in the survey, aged 15-24, have essentially lived in the EU all their lives; this group along with the oldest demographic say they would be least likely to vote for a Finnish exit.