Icelanders have voted against reopening talks on joining the European Union, according to final referendum results published on Sunday.
In the referendum held on Saturday, 52.8% voted “no” to the question of whether Iceland should resume accession negotiations with the EU, while 47.2% voted “yes,” according to the official count published by public broadcaster RUV after all ballots had been counted.
The result is expected to halt any renewed discussion of Icelandic membership at least until 2028, dealing a setback to Brussels, which had viewed a possible application from the wealthy North Atlantic island favourably.
There was no immediate reaction from European capitals.
Iceland, which has a population of nearly 400,000, applied to join the EU in 2009 after the financial crisis devastated its economy. However, the talks were frozen in 2013 after a Eurosceptic government came to power.
The country is already closely tied to the EU through its membership of the European Economic Area and the Schengen area, and those arrangements are expected to remain unchanged.
Against a backdrop of rising international tensions, the current government, led by Social Democrat Kristrun Frostadottir, had sought to gauge public support for pursuing closer integration with the bloc.
Although the referendum is formally advisory, the government had pledged to respect the outcome. It scheduled a press conference for Sunday at 15:00 to outline its next steps.
