Iceland EU membership referendum 2026
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Iceland EU referendum voting closes
Based on an initial count of 152,000 of 270,000 eligible votes, 50.1 percent were against the government restarting EU talks.
Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir said the referendum day was a great day and that Icelanders had been waiting years to vote.
Iceland paused EU accession talks 13 years before this referendum.
Iceland votes on whether to restart EU accession talks
Any accession deal would have to be approved by a second referendum, by parliament, and the constitution would have to be amended, and the EU's 27 member states would also have to sign it off.
Iceland is a founder member of Nato but has no military and relies on its allies for defence.
The latest opinion poll put the No campaign in the lead with 51.6%.
Iceland votes in EU membership referendum
Many No voters feared Iceland would cede control of its fishing grounds under the EU's common fisheries policy.
Kristrún Frostadóttir said her government would continue its work regardless of the referendum outcome.
Iceland has backed Ukraine during Russia's full-scale invasion.
Iceland votes on restarting EU talks
Iceland is a founding member of NATO with a 75-year defence treaty with the US, but has no standing armed forces of its own.
A Gallup opinion poll found that 51.6 percent of respondents were against new EU membership talks, while 48.4 percent favoured them.
An earlier survey by pollster Maskina showed a narrow majority of 51.3 percent of respondents backing new EU accession talks.
Iceland Holds Referendum on Resuming EU Membership Negotiations
Iceland's referendum presented voters with the question of whether Iceland should resume accession negotiations with the European Union.
Iceland held a national referendum on whether to restart European Union accession negotiations.
Iceland's last attempt to join the EU was shelved in 2015.
“For a country like ours with our small economy, it's very important to maintain our sovereignty and not to transfer more power than we would have to do to the EU,”
Iceland Voters Reject Proposal to Reopen EU Accession Negotiations
Iceland is a founding member of NATO without any military forces of its own.
In the referendum on resuming EU accession talks, 52.8 percent of voters voted against resuming negotiations while 47.2 percent voted in favor.
Icelandic Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir pledged not to put the EU membership issue back on the political agenda during her term ending in 2028 if voters rejected resuming talks.
“It is clear that the international system we have lived in since the end of World War II is in turmoil,”
Former Iceland prime minister dismisses EU referendum relevance
Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson's opposition party currently polls at around 15 percent.
The leader of Iceland’s Centre Party doesn’t think his country’s upcoming referendum binds Reykjavík to reopening discussions on joining the EU — even if voters back the “Yes” campaign.
Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson was Iceland's prime minister when the country dropped its previous bid to join the EU in 2015 over the issue of fishery quotas.
Trump's Greenland fixation shapes Iceland's EU vote debate
Iceland is a member of the Schengen Area, which allows passport-free travel between it and other participating European countries.
If a majority of voters answer yes, accession negotiations will take place, and if successful would lead to a second referendum.
Iceland's coalition government must hold its next general election no later than August 2028.
“It is clear that the international system we have lived in since the end of World War II is in turmoil,”
Iceland holds knife-edge EU referendum
Kristrún Frostadóttir's centre-left government won a snap election in 2024 and pledged to hold a referendum by 2027.
Prices in Iceland were 84% higher than the EU average according to analysis by the academic union Viska.
Icelandic officials say that if the Yes vote wins, talks with Brussels will take months, not years, as 11 of 35 negotiation areas were already finalised when talks were broken off.