Close result in Iceland referendum on EU accession talks

In Iceland there are signs of a very close result in the referendum on the start of EU accession negotiations. As the public broadcaster RÚV reported, according to the latest partial results, 47.5 percent of voters voted for the accession talks and 52.5 percent against.

The votes in the capital Reykjavík, which was considered a stronghold of the Yes camp, have already been counted. The majority of voters voted in favor of the talks - but not as strongly as expected and as would probably be necessary for the supporters to win. Information on voter turnout was not initially available.

The EU would welcome a yes vote from Icelanders, as the country is considered an unproblematic candidate for membership. This could help reduce skepticism about EU enlargement. Iceland's position is also important given the growing debate over Arctic security.

Discussion about accession since the Greenland debate

Iceland had already applied to join the EU once - after the global financial crisis in 2009. However, talks were broken off in 2013 after an anti-EU government came to power in Reykjavík.

In the country of 400,000 inhabitants, possible EU accession came back into discussion after US President Donald Trump threatened to take over the autonomous Danish territory of Greenland. Trump has also confused Greenland and Iceland with each other several times in public statements. For this reason, the government in Reykjavík spoke out in favor of renewed accession talks.

Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir emphasized before the vote that the referendum did not mean a final decision on EU accession. Should Iceland resume accession talks and later reach a membership agreement with the EU, this would be voted on in another referendum.