Iceland’s government has moved to put a question to voters on whether the country should restart membership talks with the European Union, setting an Aug. 29 referendum that must still clear a parliamentary step before it can be held.
The Cabinet approved a resolution calling for the vote on Aug. 29, national broadcaster RUV reported. Under the proposal, Iceland’s parliament, the Althingi, must approve the referendum before it can take place.
Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir leads a center-left coalition government that was elected in 2024. That government had said it wanted to hold the vote by 2027, but it sped up the timetable after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to take over neighboring Greenland.
The dispute between Trump and other governments has spilled into Arctic politics, with Trump referring to Greenland as Iceland during a heated international spat over his stated aim of acquiring the vast territory. Iceland’s government said its EU-timetable shift reflected the same broader concern about regional geopolitical instability.
The Cabinet resolution pointed to multiple pressures affecting Iceland, including the rising cost of living and the effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine. It also cited trans-Atlantic tensions, and it underscored that Iceland has no army and instead relies on NATO and a bilateral defense agreement with the United States.
For decades, Iceland has kept distance from EU membership over concerns that joining would require sharing its rich North Atlantic fishing grounds with boats from other European nations. Iceland did apply to join in 2009, after the country’s debt-burdened banking sector collapsed during the 2008 global financial crisis.
Negotiations began but later stalled. Talks were suspended in 2013 when a center-right government took power, and they formally ended in 2015. Iceland currently participates in the EU’s single market through the European Economic Area and is also part of the Schengen free-travel zone, the AP report said.
If Iceland were to move forward, joining the EU would require a yearslong accession process in which the European Commission assesses 35 sets of criteria, covering areas including transparency, financial systems, fisheries, transport networks, agricultural regulations, and freedoms such as speech and religion.
Admission also requires unanimity among current EU member nations. Hungary has threatened to veto Ukraine’s accession, a dynamic that EU enlargement officials say can affect how quickly new countries move through the process.
In a post on X, EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos wrote that “Iceland is already a strong and trusted partner” and that “In a world that is changing fast, the European Union offers an anchor in a community of values, prosperity and security.” Kos added that “Accession negotiations always reflect the specific realities of each candidate country.”