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Iceland’s ‘No’ camp has narrowly won a referendum on whether to resume the country’s suspended European Union membership negotiations officials confirm.
The final results were confirmed as 105,399 (47.2%) said “Yes”, while 118,040 (52.8%) said “no”. A total of 225,031 votes were cast, resulting in a voter turnout of 82.5%.
The votes in order of the announcements were divided as follows:
Reykjavík North: Yes 57.5% – No 42.5%
Reykjavík South: Yes 54.5% – No 45.5%
South constituency: Yes 39.5% – No 60.5%
Northwest constituency: Yes 37.1% – No 62.9%
Northeast constituency: Yes: 38.8% No: 61.2%
Southwest constituency: Yes: 47.0% No: 53.0%
The “No” outcome will shelve the EU debate in Icelandic politics for at least two more years.
The nation of roughly 400,000 people, first sought EU membership after the 2009 financial crisis pushed its economy to the brink, but accession talks stalled in 2013 once a euroskeptic coalition took power.
Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir’s current Social Democratic-led government revived the question this year, arguing that a more volatile international climate made it worth asking voters whether to pursue closer EU ties.
Iceland’s relationship with Brussels won’t fundamentally change either way, though: the country already participates in the European Economic Area and the passport-free Schengen zone, and both arrangements stay intact.
The referendum itself carries no legal force, but the government has committed to abiding by whatever Icelanders decide.
Frostadóttir, Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir and Minister of Education and Children Inga Sæland have called a press conference for 3pm CET where the party leaders will discuss the result and take questions from the media.
How the night unfolded
Polls closed at 10 p.m. local time (00:00am CET), and the first partial results — drawn heavily from the capital, Reykjavik — showed “Yes” comfortably ahead, at nearly 58%. Pro-EU campaigners were cautiously optimistic in the early hours, pointing to strong urban turnout.
But as rural and coastal constituencies began reporting after midnight, the picture shifted sharply. Fishing communities where opposition to EU quota-sharing rules has run deep for over a decade, delivered “No” majorities above 65% in several districts. By 2 am CET, the national tally had narrowed to a near-even split.
The turning point came around 7am CET, when the northern agricultural region — traditionally a bellwether — reported a 60/40 split in favour of “No,” pushing the national count into “No” territory for the first time. From there, the lead never fully reverted.
By late morning, all eyes were fixed on a single outstanding constituency: Southwest, the second-largest of Iceland’s six, encompassing the commuter towns ringing the capital with some 79,000 registered voters.
It was the last piece of the count still to report, and the tightest battleground of the night.
The constituency had started dead even before “No” pulled ahead as counting progressed. At 11:30 CET, Southwest published its final tally, closing out the national count in favour of No.
Our journalists are working on this story and will update it as soon as more information becomes available.
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