Icelanders vote against resuming EU accession talks
In a referendum, a majority of Icelanders voted against resuming negotiations on joining the European Union. Final results are still pending, but the margin against is too large to be overturned.
Iceland held a referendum asking citizens whether the country should resume negotiations on joining the European Union. According to broadcaster RUV, after votes were counted in five of six constituencies, 47.2% supported resuming talks while 52.5% opposed. The last constituency's results are not yet final, but they cannot deliver enough votes to change the outcome in favor of EU integration supporters.
According to Euronews, support for resuming talks initially led because votes from the capital, Reykjavik, where residents are more favorable toward EU integration, were counted first. As results came in from rural constituencies in the northwest and south, where residents oppose EU membership, the outcome shifted. Rural areas are traditionally more skeptical of the EU due to concerns over fishing and agriculture.
Background
Iceland applied for EU membership in 2009, amid a financial crisis that saw the country's three largest banks collapse. In December 2013, the government froze the talks as Iceland's economy recovered quickly. In 2015, Reykjavik asked to no longer be considered an EU candidate country.
The ruling coalition had initially promised to hold a referendum by 2027 but later decided to speed up the process amid geopolitical upheaval, including after the United States imposed tariffs on Iceland and Donald Trump threatened to annex Greenland.
