Iceland has voted to reject the government’s proposal to resume talks to join the European Union (EU), the “no” camp narrowly surpassing the “yes” camp with 52.8 percent of votes (118,040) against 47.2 percent (105,339).
It is a narrow victory, but one that will shelve talks about joining the bloc for at least two more years, dealing a significant blow to both Brussels and Reykjavík, and suggesting that President Donald Trump’s threat to annex Greenland was not enough to sway voters.
Iceland, a nation of roughly 400,000 people located in the North Atlantic Ocean between Europe and North America, first sought EU membership in 2009, in the midst of the Great Recession. But, since then, euroskeptics have stalled negotiations.
The country is already part of the European Economic Area (which comprises the 27 EU member states and three non-EU nations—Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway—into a single internal market) and benefits from the passport-free Schengen zone, which allows residents of member states to travel freely across borders.
People with Icelandic flags attend an “Afram Island,” “Forward, Iceland,” rally, opposing the resumption of European Union accession talks at Austurvollur in Reykjavik, Iceland, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026.
But it is not, crucially, part of the EU—a membership which implies meeting certain conditions as well as abiding to certain requirements.
The knife-edge referendum, which swung back and forth through the night, weighed the threat of the Trump administration against issues of cultural identity, sovereignty, defense, housing, natural resources, and farming and fishing rights if joining the EU.
Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir’s centre-left government proposed the referendum and campaigned to reopen Iceland’s EU accession talks. Her government presented the vote as a pivotal moment for the country, while Frostadóttir warned that a “no” vote would put the membership question aside.
After casting her ballot in Reykjavik, Frostadóttir said: “This is a great day, we’ve been waiting for this for years to be able to have a vote.” She also said the campaign had fueled debate about Iceland’s place in the world.
Supporters of the “yes” vote argued EU membership could strengthen Iceland’s security and international position amid geopolitical tensions, including concerns raised by Donald Trump’s comments about Greenland.
Opponents argued that EU membership would undermine Icelandic sovereignty and threaten the country’s fishing industry.
Opposition Independence Party leader Guðrún Hafsteinsdóttir told The Telegraph: “I don’t see the gain of becoming a full member for a small nation like ours,” adding that the key question was whether Iceland should “transfer key decision-making from Iceland to Brussels.”
Fishing industry representatives warned Brussels could gain too much control over Iceland’s fishing grounds. Pétur Pálsson, chief executive of seafood company Vísir, said: “If we are in the EU, they will be the ones who make the policy.”
Rural and coastal constituencies which include fishing communities traditionally oppose to EU quota-sharing rules and delivered “no” camp majorities of over 65 percent in several districts, tipping the scale of the vote.
What Role Did Trump Play in the Referendum?
Trump’s threats to take control of Greenland, a nearby semiautonomous and self-governing Danish territory, cast a long shadow on Iceland’s referendum.
“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security,” Trump told reporters again in January, after spurring controversy for making the same claim on the island last year. The island would not only fortify the United States’ military position in the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans, but it is also rich in mineral wealth.
The leaders of both Greenland and Denmark strongly rejected and condemned the claim made by the U.S. president. In January, Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen described Trump’s claim to take control of the island as a “fantasy” and called for him to stop making similar statements.
“No more pressure. No more insinuations. No more fantasies of annexation. We are open to dialogue. We are open to discussions. But this must happen through the proper channels and with respect for international law,” Nielsen said.
The Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen said “the U.S. has no right to annex any of the three nations in the Danish kingdom.”
But Trump’s claims have rattled Iceland, especially as the U.S. president has mistakenly referred to Greenland as Iceland, as reported by The Washington Post.
For supporters of new negotiations for Iceland to join the EU, the bloc could have theoretically offered protection if Trump ever made a similar claim on the nation, which is a mere 175-186 miles away from Greenland.
First among these is the Icelandic government. Iceland’s Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir wrote in a recent report that “the international system we have lived with since the end of World War II is shaking,” and this was a reason to realign the country’s partnership closer to the EU.
The referendum on talks to join the EU, she wrote, would have given Iceland “a choice about where it wants to go” and “how it wants to secure its interests for the future.”
Why Did Icelanders Vote ‘No’?
A total of 225,031 votes were cast in the referendum held on Saturday, August 29—for a voter turnout of 82.5 percent.
This is how the vote split across the country:
Reykjavík North: Yes 57.5 percent; No 42.5 percent;
Reykjavík South: Yes 54.5 percent; No 45.5 percent;
South constituency: Yes 39.5 percent; No 60.5 percent;
Northwest constituency: Yes 37.1 percent; No 62.9 percent;
Northeast constituency: Yes: 38.8 percent; No: 61.2 percent;
Southwest constituency: Yes: 47.0 percent; No: 53.0 percent.
Opponents to restarting talks to join the EU—and their arguments that the country already reaps the benefits of the single market and the Schengen zone and stands to lose more than it could gain by becoming a member—won.
Crucially, joining the bloc would have required Iceland to be part of the EU’s common fisheries policy that allows Spanish, Dutch and other trawlers into its waters. Under the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), all member states are granted equal access to EU fishing grounds while dividing catches through fixed quotas.
But for many fishing communities in Iceland, a country whose economy relies heavily on fishery, this was something of a deal-breaker.
Even as the Icelandic government suggested it would have tried to obtain a special arrangement and potentially opt out from the policy, a majority of voters were clearly not convinced.
After the referendum loss, Frostadóttir said she did not see the result as a personal blow and hoped the referendum would not divide Iceland. Speaking to public broadcaster RÚV, she also recognized issues around the potential impact of EU membership on agriculture and fisheries, saying: “I don’t experience this as hurt. I know some people have been in a state of shock, but now I’ve sat with a large group of people across the country and people are completely open to different outcomes.” She also pledged that her government would “handle these issues well and keep these concerns in mind.”
Iceland’s Gunnarsdottir and Minister of Education and Children Inga Sæland will hold a press conference at 3 p.m. CET (9 a.m. ET) where they will take reporters’ questions about the referendum’s results.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Tobias Meyjes and Trevor Davies
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