An election worker assists a voter at a polling station inside Reykjavik City Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026 [Marco Di Marco/AP]By Al Jazeera Staff, AFP and ReutersPublished On 30 Aug 202630 Aug 2026|Updated: 7 minutes agoUpdated: 7 minutes ago
Iceland has rejected the government’s proposal to hold accession talks with the European Union, public broadcaster RUV reported, with only a small number of votes left to be counted.
The “No” camp had 52.5 percent of votes and the “Yes” camp 47.5 percent, with only a few ballots left to be counted in one of Iceland’s six voting districts, online ballot counting on RUV showed on Sunday.
“The nation rejects accession negotiations with the EU,” RUV reported.
The result deals a heavy blow to Brussels, which had been keen to welcome a new wealthy member and had expressed a willingness to compromise with Iceland on the fisheries sector and other thorny issues to facilitate its accession.
Brussels had also hoped to be able to present Icelandic membership as an example of positive enlargement that could also make it more palatable for member states to agree to take in less wealthy countries like Montenegro.
The government had framed its membership plan as a “now or never” moment, and Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir told voters in August that a “No” would put all EU speculation aside.
“Yes” campaigners said joining the bloc could ease high interest rates and offer more security in a world unsettled by war in Ukraine and United States President Donald Trump’s rhetoric about annexing another Arctic island Greenland.
“No” campaigners said EU membership would threaten Iceland’s sovereignty and fishing waters.
The fisheries sector has been fiercely opposed to joining the bloc – 90 percent of companies in the industry are against the idea – and the EU had tried to woo them with a conciliatory approach ahead of the vote.
“Iceland’s unique specificities on fisheries and agriculture are well known. They would have to be carefully considered,” EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos had said.
“I’m confident that, together with EU member states, we would find creative solutions.”
Frostadottir had vowed that if Iceland rejected the resumption of entry talks, the EU membership issue would not be put back on the political agenda during her mandate, which ends in 2028.
The government had also said that in the event of a “No”, it would leave to parliament the question of whether or not to formally withdraw the country’s EU membership application.
The small North Atlantic island is already closely linked to the EU as a member of the European Economic Area and the free-movement Schengen zone – ties which will remain unchanged regardless of the referendum outcome.
While the referendum result is technically non-binding, the government has vowed to respect it.
The government will hold a press conference at 1:00 pm (13:00 GMT) on Sunday to present its plans.
Iceland first applied to join the EU in 2009 when a financial crisis hit the country’s economy. A Eurosceptic government ended talks in 2013.
