Iceland rejects EU talks as PM rules out continuation

Icelanders have rejected opening membership negotiations with the European Union, with 52.8% voting against and 47.2% in favour, mbl.is reported. Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir said the government would not continue the negotiations during the current parliamentary term.

The final results were announced on Sunday morning after counting was completed in all constituencies. The referendum asked whether Iceland should begin membership negotiations with the EU.

After questions from Icelandic media were closed at a press conference in Harpa, Frostadóttir switched to English and answered questions from international outlets that had travelled to Iceland for the referendum. Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir and Minister of Education and Children Inga Sæland also attended the press conference.

Asked by the French news agency AFP whether the result would affect the government and whether Iceland’s application would be formally withdrawn, Frostadóttir said the government had promised to hold the referendum and respect its outcome.

“Our promise was that we would stand by this referendum; our promise was that we would respect it. This is something previous governments did not do,” she said.

Frostadóttir said she did not regard the result as a setback but as a victory because turnout had been strong. She said parliament would discuss whether the application should be formally withdrawn, while reiterating that the membership negotiations would not continue during the current parliamentary term.

Asked whether the Social Democratic Alliance and Viðreisn would seek a parliamentary majority in the next election in order to advance the issue, Frostadóttir said it would be irresponsible to predict what the plan would be in two, three or four years.

She added that EU membership had not been her first priority when she became leader of the Social Democratic Alliance and said it was highly unlikely to be the leading issue before the next parliamentary election.

Gunnarsdóttir said the referendum had been brought forward because of what she described as a dramatic change in the global outlook. She said every government would have to assess how to protect Iceland’s interests, regardless of which parties were in power.