1994: Norway votes 'no' to Europe

Norway has voted to reject membership of the European Union in a referendum, for the second time in its history.

With 92% of the referendum votes counted the "no" campaign had a clear margin of 52.4% to 47.6% for the "yes" vote. Turnout was estimated at 80%.

The result is a blow for Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, who has made Norwegian membership of the EU her main political goal for the last four years.

"It was the people who made the decision, and we as a country have to live with that," she said.

Resignation

Norway first rejected membership of the European Economic Community, as the EU was then known, in 1972. That result, by a similar margin to today's vote, forced the resignation of the government.

Mrs Brundtland has ruled out resignation this time, but it remains unclear how she will lead Norway into a non-European future.

The leader of Norway's Anti-European Union campaign, Anna-Enger Lahnstein, told supporters "With this, we have said Yes to Europe and Yes to international solidarity - but we don't want to join the Union."

Divided country

The result threatens to leave the country bitterly divided after the closely-fought campaign.

Voters in the far north, the stronghold of the "no" campaign, rejected membership by a margin of 80-20, whereas the capital, Oslo, where a third of voters live, backed membership.

The "no" campaign led consistently in opinion polls throughout the campaign, but last-minute gains by the "yes" campaigners narrowed the gap and made the result too close to predict.

Recent votes for EU membership in fellow Scandinavian countries Finland and Sweden swayed many voters, but even that was not enough to reverse the trend.

The "yes" campaign has centred on the potential for Norway to become isolated if it doesn't join neighbouring EU countries in an era of expansion and change.

However, the "no" campaign argued EU membership would undermine the country's independence and its control over its rich petroleum and other natural resources.

But economists also warn that although Norway's oil-dependent economy is strong in the short term, North Sea oil and gas revenues are due to tail off soon and growth is expected to weaken.

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