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Iceland Set to Put EU Membership to Public Vote
(MENAFN) Iceland is set to put its European future to a public vote, with Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir announcing Wednesday that a national referendum on reopening EU membership negotiations will take place within the coming months.
Frostadottir made the declaration during a joint press conference in Warsaw, standing alongside Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk — signaling a potentially historic pivot for a nation that has kept Brussels at arm's length for over a decade.
The Icelandic premier reaffirmed her government's position that such a consequential foreign policy shift must ultimately be determined by the Icelandic people themselves, rather than decided unilaterally by the ruling administration.
Tusk offered an unequivocal show of support for Iceland's potential path toward full integration, declaring that the EU's doors remain firmly open should Icelanders vote to move forward.
"I would be very happy if Iceland, Norway and other countries in Europe became part of the same empire as Poland," he said.
Iceland's ties with the EU have remained frozen since 2015, when Reykjavik formally rescinded its 2009 membership application amid deep disagreements over fishing rights and national sovereignty concerns. The withdrawal effectively halted a process that had been driven by the financial turmoil of the late 2000s.
Although Iceland continues to participate in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Schengen Area, persistent domestic concerns — including volatility of the Icelandic Krona and mounting inflationary pressures — have reignited public discourse over whether closer EU integration could offer greater economic stability.
Frostadottir made the declaration during a joint press conference in Warsaw, standing alongside Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk — signaling a potentially historic pivot for a nation that has kept Brussels at arm's length for over a decade.
The Icelandic premier reaffirmed her government's position that such a consequential foreign policy shift must ultimately be determined by the Icelandic people themselves, rather than decided unilaterally by the ruling administration.
Tusk offered an unequivocal show of support for Iceland's potential path toward full integration, declaring that the EU's doors remain firmly open should Icelanders vote to move forward.
"I would be very happy if Iceland, Norway and other countries in Europe became part of the same empire as Poland," he said.
Iceland's ties with the EU have remained frozen since 2015, when Reykjavik formally rescinded its 2009 membership application amid deep disagreements over fishing rights and national sovereignty concerns. The withdrawal effectively halted a process that had been driven by the financial turmoil of the late 2000s.
Although Iceland continues to participate in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Schengen Area, persistent domestic concerns — including volatility of the Icelandic Krona and mounting inflationary pressures — have reignited public discourse over whether closer EU integration could offer greater economic stability.
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