Danish opposition to euro soars: poll

(COPENHAGEN) - Danish opposition to the euro has grown amid a worsening European debt crisis, with a poll Tuesday showing more than 50 percent of Danes are against joining the single currency zone.

The Statistics Denmark poll carried out for the country's biggest bank Danske Bank, showed 50.6 percent of Danes would vote against joining the eurozone if a referendum were held today, while 22.5 percent would vote in favour.

The poll of 974 voting-aged Danes during the first two weeks of September also showed that 14.8 percent were leaning towards voting in favour, while 10 percent said they would "perhaps" vote against.

Some 2.1 percent were undecided.

In June, a similar poll showed 26.8 percent in favour and 47.1 percent against the euro.

"There is no doubt that the (European) debt problems have increased opposition to joining the monetary union," Danske Bank Chief Economist Steen Bocian told AFP.

In addition, he said, Denmark's recent general elections, which ended a decade of centre-right rule, had probably contributed to making Danish opinion more negative to the common European currency.

"The 'no' camp has traditionally won momentum during election campaigns, (and) everything points to the fact that if a referendum were held today, Danes would answer 'no'," Bocian said.