Iceland Says ‘No’: Why Voters Rejected EU Accession Talks
The vote split 52.8% to 47.2%, with rural voters rejecting changes they said could threaten fisheries, farming and sovereignty.
- On Sunday, Icelanders voted against resuming European Union membership negotiations in a knife-edge referendum that split 52.8% to 47.2%. The result halts discussions about potentially joining the bloc.
- The 'No' campaign warned EU membership would alter vital fisheries and farming industries, core concerns in rural regions. Having gained independence from Denmark in 1944, Icelanders remained determined to avoid ceding sovereignty to another larger power.
- Dagur Eggertsson, MP and former Mayor of Reykjavík, told Europe Today, "You could almost hear the echoes of Brexit." The 'No' campaign was significantly better financed than the 'Yes' camp.
- European Council President António Costa said, "The EU fully respects the democratic choice of the Icelandic people." Yet Brussels maintained a low profile throughout the campaign, echoing silence during the Brexit referendum.
- Former MEP Charles Tannock stated it was a mistake not to "correct lies and misinformation." Critics argue the Commission's neutrality proved self-defeating 10 years after Brexit, suggesting institutional silence remains a recurring flaw.
39 Articles
39 Articles
In order to explain the No to the referendum on the European Union, we talked mainly about that, but alone it is not enough
Why Iceland Said No to Europe
Throughout the 1990s and the first decade of the new century, Iceland chose to stay out of the European Union, becoming instead a founder member of the European Economic Area (EEA), a much looser arrangement that grants access to the single market without membership of the Union.
At the referendum of 29 August, the Icelandics rejected the resumption of the accession negotiations to the European Union, with 52.8% of voters voting against. The campaign was marked by inaccurate and contradictory information, and the lack of clear answers on the future of fishing quotas, a sector essential to the country's economy, could have fuelled the population's reluctance to approach the Community bloc, according to Euronews.
It took only 48 hours for the Western media to accuse Moscow of the failure of the vote on the resumption of negotiations on Iceland's accession to the EU
It took only 48 hours for the Western media to accuse Moscow of the failure of the vote on the resumption of negotiations on Iceland's accession to the EU.Italian journalist Thomas Fasi drew attention to this fact on the social network X. He...
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Bias Distribution
- 46% of the sources are Center, 45% of the sources lean Right
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