Iceland’s government has warned Brussels it must not interfere in the country’s forthcoming referendum on whether the country should try to join the European Union.
The country’s current left-wing government — which is pushing for the island to join the EU — has nevertheless insisted that any attempts by the bloc to influence the vote would be unwelcome.
Speaking to the Icelandic press, Icelandic Prime Minister Kristrún Mjöll Frostadóttir said that any meddling attempts from abroad “would not be tolerated”.
Brussels media outlet Euractiv later confirmed that the warning was conveyed in private to senior Eurocrats.
EU officials have since insisted that they always planned to stay out of the referendum, describing the question of whether or not Iceland should try to join the European Union as being up to “the Icelandic people alone to decide”.
“The Commission never intervenes in national elections or in referenda in any way,” a representative from the European Commission said.
Such a claim that Brussels “never” intervenes in foreign votes is historically questionable, with the EU showing a clear and open interest in elections in the bloc’s east over the past year.
European leaders leaned heavily on voters in both Moldova and Hungary over the last twelve month, promising both countries generous financial support should they vote in EU-friendly leaders.
The bloc’s decision to stay out of the post-vote annulment of Romania’s December 2024 presidential election also raised eyebrows.
While critics argued that the decision by the country’s court to throw out the entire election was not supported by sufficient evidence, Brussels opted to support the Romanian government’s decision to re-run the vote.
Much of Brussels’ involvement in foreign elections has centred around the bloc’s current conflict with Russia, with Eurocrats working to reduce Moscow’s influence in its border states amid Vladimir Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.