Icelanders are heading to the polls in a closely watched referendum on the country’s future relationship with the European Union.
Voters are deciding whether Iceland should reopen talks on joining the EU. A “Yes” vote would not make Iceland an EU member. Instead, it would allow the country to restart accession negotiations.
Any final membership agreement would still need approval in another referendum.
Polling stations opened at 9am local time and are scheduled to close at 10pm. Early results are expected on Sunday morning.
Iceland EU vote remains too close to call
The referendum has attracted major attention because opinion polls show a very narrow gap between supporters and opponents.
The latest Maskína poll, published on Friday, put support for restarting EU talks at 50.4%. Those planning to vote against the proposal stood at 49.6%.
The margin is small enough to make the final result difficult to predict.
More than 40,000 Icelanders had already voted early by Wednesday. That represented almost 15% of the electorate.
Turnout in Reykjavik also appeared strong. Iceland’s public broadcaster RÚV reported that more than 8% of voters in the capital had cast ballots by 11am on Saturday.
That compared with about 5% at the same time during the 2024 parliamentary election.
Why Iceland is voting on EU talks
Iceland first applied to join the European Union in 2009.
The application came after a severe financial crisis hit the country. Iceland then changed political direction.
A Eurosceptic government took office in 2013 and suspended the accession process. Iceland formally withdrew its EU membership application in 2015.
The issue returned to the political agenda after the 2024 election.
A pro-EU coalition won the election after promising voters a referendum on whether to resume the accession process.
That promise has now led to Saturday’s vote.
A Yes vote would not mean EU membership
The wording of the referendum is important.
A “Yes” vote would only support reopening negotiations with the EU. It would not automatically take Iceland into the bloc.
Iceland would have to negotiate the terms of membership. Voters would then have another opportunity to approve or reject any final agreement.
A “No” vote would make a renewed membership bid much less likely in the near future.
Bigger implications for the European Union
Iceland has a population of fewer than 400,000 people. If it eventually joins the EU, it would become the bloc’s smallest member by population.
However, the political significance of the vote goes beyond Iceland’s size.
The referendum comes a decade after the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU.
A decision to reopen membership talks would therefore give the European project a boost at a time when enlargement remains an important issue.
Norway is also watching the vote closely. The country has long debated its own relationship with the EU but has remained outside the bloc.
Iceland awaits the result
The referendum is advisory rather than legally binding.
Even so, a clear “Yes” result would create strong political pressure on Iceland’s government to restart negotiations.
The close polling means both sides remain focused on turnout and undecided voters.
With voting ending at 10pm, Iceland will soon learn whether voters want to reopen the door to EU membership talks.
Initial results are expected in the early hours of Sunday.
