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More from World<\/p>\nIcelanders have rejected a proposal to resume negotiations on joining the European Union, dealing a setback to Brussels\u2019 efforts to bring the wealthy North Atlantic country into the bloc <\/p>\n
Icelanders have rejected a proposal to resume negotiations on joining the European Union, dealing a setback to Brussels\u2019 efforts to bring the wealthy North Atlantic country into the bloc.<\/p>\n
In Saturday\u2019s referendum, 52.8 per cent of voters opposed restarting EU accession talks, while 47.2 per cent backed the proposal, according to the final results published by Iceland\u2019s public broadcaster RUV.<\/p>\n
The result is expected to put the EU membership question on hold in Iceland until at least 2028. Although the referendum is technically non-binding, Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir\u2019s government has said it will respect the verdict.<\/p>\n
Why Iceland voted \u2018No\u2019<\/p>\n
Iceland applied to join the EU following the country\u2019s 2009 financial crisis, which severely damaged its economy. However, accession talks were suspended in 2013 after a Eurosceptic government came to power.<\/p>\n
The current government, led by Social Democratic Prime Minister Frostadottir, had supported reopening negotiations amid growing geopolitical tensions. The campaign also brought renewed debate about Iceland\u2019s place in Europe and its wider role in international affairs.<\/p>\n
Iceland is already closely connected to the EU. It is part of the European Economic Area and the Schengen free-movement zone, arrangements that will remain unchanged after the referendum.<\/p>\n
Frostadottir had campaigned for a \u201cYes\u201d vote but said Iceland would be able to move forward regardless of the outcome.<\/p>\n
More from World<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will be fine also if it’s a \u2018No\u2019,\u201d she said after casting her ballot.<\/p>\n
She had also pledged that if voters rejected the proposal, the EU issue would not return to the political agenda during her term, which runs until 2028.<\/p>\n
Fishing emerges as major obstacle<\/p>\n
One of the biggest concerns surrounding EU membership has been Iceland\u2019s fishing industry, a crucial part of the country\u2019s economy and national identity.<\/p>\n
Iceland has long insisted on maintaining control over its fishing resources, while the industry has strongly opposed joining the bloc. Around 90 per cent of companies in the sector were against EU membership, according to the information cited by AFP.<\/p>\n
The European Union had attempted to address these concerns ahead of the vote. EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said Brussels recognised Iceland\u2019s specific circumstances, particularly regarding fisheries and agriculture, and expressed confidence that compromises could be found.<\/p>\n
Setback for Brussels\u2019 wider ambitions<\/p>\n
The rejection is also a setback for the EU\u2019s broader enlargement plans.<\/p>\n
Brussels had hoped Iceland could become an example of successful EU expansion and help build support for admitting other candidate countries, including poorer nations such as Montenegro.<\/p>\n
Iceland\u2019s membership would also have strengthened the EU\u2019s presence in the strategically important Arctic region. It could potentially have influenced debate in neighbouring Norway, another wealthy Nordic country that remains outside the bloc.<\/p>\n
The referendum also took place against a backdrop of wider geopolitical tensions, including the war in Ukraine and US President Donald Trump\u2019s interest in Greenland.<\/p>\n
Iceland\u2019s government is now expected to decide how to proceed with its existing EU application. It had previously said Parliament could determine whether the country should formally withdraw the application following a \u201cNo\u201d vote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Icelanders have rejected a proposal to resume negotiations on joining the European Union, dealing a setback to Brussels\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[18,1194,125,18820,4268,2423,18818,18819],"class_list":["post-35030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brussels","tag-brussels","tag-eu-accession","tag-european-union","tag-fishing-industry","tag-geopolitical-tensions","tag-iceland","tag-iceland-eu-referendum","tag-kristrun-frostadottir"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/117185167179499741","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}