Iceland says NO to EU accession talks: 52.5% say pass as final votes are counted
Iceland's Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir called the referendum by citing global instability but pledged to respect the outcome despite it carrying no legal force.Fishing rights lie at the heart of the vote, with Iceland demanding exclusive control over its waters as Brussels signals greater readiness to compromise than in 2013.
Iceland's state broadcaster RUV has called a No win in Saturday's referendum on whether to reopen EU accession talks, with 52.5% against and 47.5% in favour; a handful of ballots remain to be counted in a district already leaning toward rejection. Brussels, which had been keen to welcome the prosperous island into the bloc and had indicated room for compromise on contentious issues, faces a considerable blow from the result. Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir, whose centre-left government called the vote by citing global instability, said she would respect the outcome despite the referendum carrying no legal force.
Fishing rights drove the No vote — close to 40% of Iceland's exports come from fish and marine industries, and many voters were unwilling to surrender control over valuable fishing grounds.
The Yes campaign had contended that EU membership would help bring down Iceland's high interest rates and provide security in the face of Trump's threats to seize neighbouring Greenland.
A Yes result would only have opened talks, not confirmed membership — a second referendum on actual accession would still have been required years later.
