The ‘No’ camp had 52.5 percent and the ‘Yes’ camp had 47.5 percent with only a few ballots left to count, public broadcaster RUV reports.

⁠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

list 1 of 3Vote count under way in Iceland’s knife-edge EU referendum

list 2 of 3Iceland rejects EU-accession talks plan in referendum

list 3 of 3Iceland votes in a tight race on whether to resume talks to join the EU

“The nation rejects accession negotiations with the EU,” RUV reported.

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 have 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.

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.

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/30/iceland-rejects-eu-membership-plan-in-referendum?traffic_source=rss