It’s been 15 years today since the Norwegian public turned down an EU membership in the 1994 referendum, held on Monday 28 November. After a long and heated debate the nay-sayers drew the longest straw, winning 52.2 percent of the votes, on an 88.6 percent turnout.

As an (extremely) active member of the European Movement at the time, I would be lying if I declared myself unaffected by the outcome, like the rest of the remaining 47,8 percent yes voters. The European Movement held a party in central Oslo that night that I attended, alongside other EU activists. Spurred by the Swedes’, the Finns’ and the Austrians’ loud and clear yes during their respective referendums that autumn, we expected nothing short of a landslide in favour of an EU membership.

The Norwegian EU polls at some point during Monday 28 November 1994.

Which made our defeat all the harder to accept, of course. I saw hardened politicians crying in corridors and hallways – or sitting face-in-hands on steps. Personally I found no comfort in the whopping 76 percent victory (the exact figure has escaped me over the years) in my own township, Oslo’s Nordstrand, at the time, where I personally set up a local European Movement chapter. For weeks on end I spent my days in silent apathy, until, being father of two little boys, Christmas brutally jerked me out of it.

So you see, today I just want to remain silent, even though I’m not entirely convinced that we deserve being accepted into the EU.

See also: A bitter-sweet celebration