Iceland votes narrowly against restarting European Union accession talks
World · 30 August 2026
Written by AI from multiple news reports
Icelanders voted against reopening EU membership talks on 29 August 2026, with 51.2% choosing "no" and 48.8% voting "yes."
The vote was called by Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir's centre-left government. Iceland had started accession talks with Brussels in 2009, during a financial crisis, but stopped them in 2013 when a Eurosceptic government took power.
A "yes" result would have only restarted negotiations. Voters would still have needed to approve actual membership in a second referendum later.