Iceland is reportedly considering fast-tracking a vote on resuming membership negotiations amid US threats to annex Greenland
Iceland is considering holding a referendum on resuming EU membership talks as early as August, Politico has reported, citing two people familiar with the country’s accession preparations.
The Nordic nation’s governing coalition previously pledged to hold a vote on restarting negotiations by 2027, after a previous government froze the accession process in 2013.
According to Politico, Reykjavík is now expected to announce the date of the vote within weeks due to growing geopolitical uncertainty.
The reported acceleration comes as US President Donald Trump has issued repeated threats to seize Greenland, an autonomous territory of fellow NATO member Denmark. Trump also initially refused to rule out using military force to annex the island. The dispute has thrown the transatlantic military bloc into turmoil, with European leaders backing Greenlanders who have refused to become part of the US.
Last month, Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Reykjavik, former Congressman Billy Long, joked that Iceland, also a NATO member, could become the 52nd US state with himself as governor. The remark sparked outrage and prompted Reykjavík to seek clarification from Washington. Long insisted the comment was intended as humor.
Icelandic Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrín Gunnarsdottir told Reuters last week that she would like to see the country’s accession to the EU accelerated, given the “completely different geopolitical environment.”
Iceland first applied to join the EU in 2009 following the collapse of its banking sector during the financial crisis. Formal membership negotiations opened in 2010 but were frozen three years later by a newly elected center-right government. At the time, Iceland’s economy was rapidly recovering while concerns mounted over a potential eurozone collapse, leading Reykjavík to formally withdraw its application in 2015.
As a member of the European Economic Area and the Schengen zone, Iceland has already adopted significant portions of EU legislation. An EU official told Politico that if accession talks resume, negotiations could be completed in one year.
However, fishing rights – a key sector for Iceland’s economy – remain a potential stumbling block. Former Icelandic President Guoni Thorlacius Johannesson told Politico: “in the end it comes down to fish, that was always the issue.”
