Iceland's government wants to hold a referendum in August on whether to restart membership talks with the European Union, more than a decade after getting cold feet about joining the bloc. The Cabinet approved a resolution Friday calling for an Aug. 29 vote on resuming accession talks, national broadcaster RUV reports. The proposal must be approved by Iceland's 1,100-year-old parliament, the Althingi, before the vote can happen. The decision for the fiercely independent Arctic island nation with a population of just 400,000 comes as concerns grow about geopolitical instability and economic pressures, the AP reports.
Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir's center-left coalition government, elected in 2024, had said it wanted to hold a vote by 2027, but sped up that timetable after President Trump threatened to take over neighboring Greenland. Trump several times referred to Greenland as Iceland during a heated international spat about the president's aim of acquiring the vast Arctic territory. The rising cost of living, Russia's war in Ukraine, and trans-Atlantic tensions have also contributed to growing concerns about Iceland's security. The island nation has no army and relies on NATO and a bilateral defense agreement with the United States.
- For decades, Iceland avoided seeking EU membership because it was concerned it would be forced to share its rich North Atlantic fishing grounds with boats from other European nations. It applied to join the bloc in 2009, after the country's debt-burdened banking sector collapsed during the 2008 global financial crisis. Talks were suspended in 2013, when a center-right government came to power, and they formally ended in 2015.
- Iceland participates in the EU's single market through the European Economic Area, and is part of the Schengen free-travel zone. Ten countries are currently in accession talks with the EU, with Albania, Moldova, Montenegro, and Ukraine top of the list.
- Joining the bloc requires a yearslong process run by the European Commission assessing 35 sets of criteria from transparency and financial systems to fisheries, transport networks, agricultural regulations, and freedoms like speech and religion. All current EU member nations must unanimously agree to admit the applicant. Hungary has threatened to veto Ukraine's accession.
- Frostadottir says EU membership is a "discussion that has hung over the Icelandic nation," RUV reports. She says talks, if approved, will focus on the possibilities and implications of membership. If talks result in an agreement, it will need to be approved in a separate referendum.
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