Thomas Ashway Icelanders voted against restarting European Union accession negotiations in a referendum held over the weekend, with 52.5 percent opposed and 47.5 percent in favor, according to a count reported by national broadcaster RÚV and cited by Politico.
The tally swung back and forth through the night before settling into a narrow rejection, according to Euronews.
The vote asked whether Reykjavik should resume the accession process it froze after 2015. A No leaves that freeze in place; the government cannot reopen negotiations with the bloc without a new mandate.
Euronews described the result as a political message to Brussels: in the public's view, the burdens of EU membership outweigh the benefits.
The setback lands as the European Commission and member states are trying to accelerate accession tracks for Ukraine and the Western Balkan candidates, part of a broader push to widen the bloc. Iceland's rejection shows that even a wealthy, institutionally stable applicant cannot be assumed to want in, complicating Brussels' argument that enlargement is an unambiguous good.
Iceland first applied for EU membership in 2009, opened talks in 2010, then paused and ultimately shelved the bid without formally withdrawing it. The vote was the first direct test of public opinion on resuming that process.
