Björn Bjarnason says government planned an EU push

Former minister Björn Bjarnason believes the government intended to use the final two years of its term to move Iceland closer to the European Union if voters had backed resuming membership talks. He made the comments in an interview with mbl.is about his new book, When Iceland Said No.

Bjarnason said the government’s decision to bring forward the referendum was part of a broader political plan, and that he could see no other convincing explanation for its timing. The referendum on whether to resume EU accession talks was held on August 29.

In his view, talks would have begun with the 2028 parliamentary election approaching. The government could then have built closer ties with the EU and prepared further steps towards membership, potentially including a proposed constitutional amendment.

He said such an amendment might have been put to voters in 2028, with the hope that the same parliamentary majority would remain in power and Iceland would then join the EU.

“This must have been the game plan,” Bjarnason said. If it was not, he added, the government’s approach had been even less thought through than he could imagine.

Bjarnason also questioned the explanation that the referendum was brought forward mainly because of US President Donald Trump’s remarks about Greenland in January 2026. He asked whether the timing might also have been intended to send a political message to the United States by bringing Iceland closer to the EU.

He also addressed the argument that a new window of opportunity had opened for Iceland in its relations with the EU.