Iceland will hold a referendum on Aug. 29 to decide whether to relaunch its stalled talks to join the EU, its government said Friday.
Icelandic Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir, who announced the date at a press conference in Reykjavik, said the vote would finally settle “a debate that has hung over the Icelandic nation.”
The Arctic country applied for EU membership in 2009 amid a financial crisis but froze talks in 2013 after a dispute over fishing policy and formally withdrew its application in 2015. It is a member of the European Economic Area and part of the Schengen free travel area.
In recent months, Iceland — which occupies a strategically important position in the Arctic, but has no standing army — had explored expediting a referendum on the subject of reviving talks, as POLITICO reported last month.
Polls show a clear majority of Icelanders support holding a referendum on resuming talks, though the population is more evenly split on whether Iceland should actually join the EU.
The EU’s Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos played up the bloc’s attraction as a security guarantor in a time of geopolitical upheaval.
“A significant decision now lies ahead for the Icelandic people,” Kos said Friday in a post on X. “In a world that is changing fast, the European Union offers an anchor in a community of values, prosperity and security.”
If the referendum is successful, Iceland would need to go to another vote once it finishes accession negotiations to actually join the bloc.
Zoya Sheftalovich contributed to this report.
Iceland to hold Aug. 29 referendum on reviving EU membership talks
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