Iceland is considering holding a referendum on whether to resume negotiations to join the European Union as early as August this year. The vote was previously planned for 2027 at the latest.
This is reported by Politico, citing sources.
According to the sources, the parliament could announce the date of the referendum in the coming weeks. If a majority of citizens support the resumption of negotiations, Iceland could potentially join the EU sooner than other candidates.
The process is being accelerated by changes in global security and the EUʼs overall enlargement policy. Brussels, in particular, is working on a plan that could grant Ukraine partial membership as early as next year.
The decision of the Icelandic capital Reykjavik is also influenced by relations with the United States. The administration of Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on Iceland, and Trump himself has already threatened to annex Greenland.
The words of his nominee for ambassador to Iceland, Billy Long, who joked that the country could become the "52nd state of the United States", caused an additional resonance.
The biggest potential sticking point in the resumption of talks could be fishing rights, a key sector of Icelandʼs economy, which was one of the most contentious issues in the previous round of talks with the EU.
At the same time, there is an important difference now, if compared to previous negotiations — the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU. Previously, disputes around fisheries were largely associated with London, which had a long history of conflicts with Reykjavik.
- Iceland applied to join the EU in 2009, at the height of the financial crisis, when the countryʼs three largest banks collapsed. Negotiations were frozen in 2013, and in March 2015 the country asked to no longer be considered as a candidate.
- Iceland has a strategic location in the North Atlantic, but does not have its own army and relies on NATO membership and a 1951 defense agreement with the United States. Against this background, support for closer integration with the EU is growing in society.
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