Iceland Votes on Reviving EU Talks for 27-Nation Bloc as Trump's Greenland Push Rattles Arctic Security
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 28
Iceland Votes on Reviving EU Talks for 27-Nation Bloc as Trump's Greenland Push Rattles Arctic Security
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 28
Summary
Saturday’s referendum asks Icelanders a single yes-or-no question: whether to resume European Union membership negotiations that the country abandoned more than a decade ago.
Trump’s January insistence that the U.S. needed to take Greenland — and his repeated references to Greenland as Iceland — sharpened security fears and helped turn EU ties into a strategic issue, not just an economic one.
Supporters say the 27-member bloc would add protection against tariffs, trade wars and Arctic pressure, while opponents warn Brussels could curb Iceland’s control over fishing and farming.
Even a Yes would only reopen a long accession process requiring compliance across more than 30 policy areas, a second Icelandic referendum and unanimous approval from all 27 EU states.
Brussels sees Iceland, a stable economy already in the common market and Schengen zone, as a potential rare enlargement success after Croatia’s 2013 entry and amid stalled bids elsewhere.