Iceland applies for EU membership

Icelandic Foreign Ministry officials say diplomats presented the formal request to Sweden, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency. EU accession would be put to a referendum, if the application is approved as expected.

Iceland's economy collapsed last year, with the country becoming one of the first casualties of the global economic crisis. Thousands of people in the tiny island-nation lost their jobs and their life savings.

The collapse forced independent-minded Icelanders to consider seeking shelter in the EU, and possibly adopting the single European currency, the euro.