RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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A nationwide referendum failed to win enough support to restart negotiations on European Union membership, despite geopolitical tensions in the North Atlantic.
https://p.dw.com/p/5JdCz Advertisement Icelandic voters have rejected a plan to restart accession talks with the European Union, final referendum results showed on Sunday.
The 'No' camp secured victory with 52.8% of the votes, while the 'Yes' camp garnered 47.2% support, the official count published by public broadcaster RUV showed.
The capital, Reykjavik, was the only area in the island nation of 400,000 people to support the referendum.
Some 270,000 Icelanders were eligible to vote. There was no information yet about voter turnout.
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Iceland has spent the better part of two decades wrestling with the question of becoming the bloc's 28th member.
The Nordic country originally applied to join the EU in 2009 following the global financial crisis, which hit the country particularly hard.
Accession talks were suspended in 2013 after a euroskeptic government took office.
Iceland's current left-leaning government, elected in 2024, originally vowed to hold a vote next year but brought it forward because of rising geopolitical tension over Russia's war in Ukraine and Greenland.
However, the decision puts to bed concerns among many voters that joining the bloc would undermine Iceland's sovereignty, with fishing rights a major concern.
The fisheries sector has been fiercely opposed to joining the bloc, with 90% of industry players against the idea.
The result is a disappointment to Brussels, which had appeared willing to compromise on thorny issues, including fishing and farming, to facilitate Iceland's accession.
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