Iceland rejects reopening EU membership talks in narrow referendum

REYKJAVIK — Icelanders have rejected a proposal to reopen negotiations on joining the European Union, with 52.8% voting against restarting accession talks and 47.2% in favor, according to final results released Sunday by public broadcaster RUV.The final ballots from the Southwest Constituency were announced Sunday morning, confirming a narrow national majority against resuming negotiations that have been frozen for more than a decade.Voting revealed a sharp regional divide. Both Reykjavik constituencies backed restarting negotiations, with 57.5% voting Yes in Reykjavik North and 54.5% in Reykjavik South.Every other constituency rejected the proposal. The No vote reached 62.9% in the Northwest, 61.2% in the Northeast, 60% in the South and 53% in the Southwest.Icelanders voted Saturday in a closely contested referendum on whether the government should resume EU accession negotiations suspended more than a decade ago.The referendum was not a vote on joining the EU itself. A Yes result would have authorized the government to reopen negotiations, while any eventual accession agreement would still have required approval in a second referendum.The European Movement, which campaigned for a Yes vote, expressed disappointment but highlighted that 47.2% of voters supported continuing accession negotiations.“Although Iceland will remain outside the EU, we are closely connected to Europe through the European Economic Area (EEA), Schengen, NATO and numerous other essential cooperation projects that Iceland cannot do without,” the group said.It pledged to continue advocating closer ties between Iceland and Europe despite the referendum result.Iceland applied for EU membership in 2009 following the collapse of its banking system during the global financial crisis. Accession negotiations began in 2010 but were suspended in 2013 after a eurosceptic government took office.The negotiations have remained frozen since then, although Iceland never formally withdrew its membership application.The European Commission has maintained that Iceland’s application remains legally valid.The Icelandic government had pledged to respect the referendum outcome, describing the question of whether to restart negotiations as an issue of major national importance.