Just over 52 percent of Icelandic voters said no. In a referendum held on Saturday, August 29, they decided against resuming negotiations to join the European Union. The “Yes” camp took 47 percent, and turnout topped 82 percent.
The vote was part of the election program of the center-left government led by Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir. It was first scheduled for 2027. The government moved it up a year, partly because of US President Donald Trump’s expansionist ambitions regarding Greenland.
Capital against countryside
The map split along a familiar line. Rural areas backed “No” by wide margins, while voters in the capital supported “Yes.” The same divide showed up in the 2016 Brexit vote.
Fishing rights were the issue with the most pull. The sector employs 10 percent of the population and accounts for 40 percent of Iceland’s exports. Fishermen fear that inside the EU, vessels from other countries could be allowed into Icelandic waters. When Iceland was a candidate, from 2009 to 2013, fisheries was the one negotiating chapter where talks stalled and were suspended.
A “Yes” win would have started negotiations that many expected to be short. Iceland already belongs to the single market and the Schengen Area, follows many European policies, and had closed a number of negotiating chapters during its candidate years.
Reactions
Frostadóttir called the result a victory for democracy. She said resuming negotiations would not be considered before her term ends in 2028, and the government said the outcome would not change its work.
Eurosceptics cheered. British politician Nigel Farage congratulated Icelanders for “maintaining their independence.” France’s Marine Le Pen called the result “proof that another model of Europe,” built on cooperation among sovereign countries, “is possible.”
Brussels answered on August 30. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the spokesperson for the President of the European Council both said that, despite the result, Iceland remains an important partner for the EU.
Iceland would still have needed a second referendum to join. Even so, the vote shut a door for Brussels in the Arctic, where an Icelandic EU member would have given the Union more say on rare earths and the development of logistical corridors. The United States, Russia and China are all active in the region.
