Iceland Rejects EU Membership Plan in Referendum

Icelanders voted to stay out of the European Union, referendum results showed on Sunday, as they rejected a government push to reopen membership talks and sided with those who said Iceland’s fishing waters were too important to risk.

The Arctic island of 400,000 people has debated whether to join the EU for well over a decade and had initially been expected to narrowly back holding membership talks, but opinion polls this month showed views had changed.

Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir told a press conference that Iceland would focus on strengthening its existing ties with the European Union through the European Economic Area agreement, which it shares ⁠with Norway and Liechtenstein.

“A big lesson for me and also for the government is that people are happy with the EEA agreement,” she said.

A European Commission spokesperson said it respected the choice of the Icelandic people and noted that Iceland remained a close partner of the European Union.