Halla urges Icelanders to respect referendum result and each other

Icelandic President Halla Tómasdóttir called on people to respect the result of the referendum on continuing accession talks with the European Union in an address to Alþingi, Iceland’s parliament, on Tuesday, mbl.is reported.

“Although the margin was narrow, the result is clear and must be respected,” Halla said. She also urged understanding for the disappointment and strong emotions the result had caused among many people.

She said Icelanders had previously debated major issues and found a way forward together. The question now, she said, was no longer how people had voted, but what kind of society they wanted to create together.

Halla said a democratic society did not arise by itself. It was shaped every day by how people spoke to and listened to one another, and by the respect they showed those who saw the future differently.

“We can choose to do better and not allow the loudest voices to set the tone in society,” she said.

The referendum had answered the question put to voters, Halla said, but not how Iceland should be as a society once the result was known.

“No one has an exclusive right to love Iceland. And no one loses their right to belong to this nation because of how they voted,” she said. “We do not always choose the same path. But we are all responsible for not losing one another along the way.”

Halla also addressed the recent fatal crash on Krýsuvíkurvegur, a road where three young people died in traffic.

She offered her condolences to their families, friends and everyone mourning their deaths, saying that such a loss affected everyone and painfully reminded people of what mattered most.

“We must take good care of our children and young people, listen to them and support them, because nothing says more about the strength of a society than how our children and young people are doing,” she said.