Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Icelanders are voting on Saturday in a referendum on whether the country should restart talks on joining the European Union, a question that has returned to the centre of politics after more than a decade. The vote comes as concerns over security have grown following US President Donald Trump’s threats to control nearby Greenland.
About 265,000 eligible voters are being asked a simple yes-or-no question: should Iceland resume accession negotiations with the EU? If voters reject the proposal, the issue is likely to be settled for at least a generation. A yes vote would begin negotiations with the European Commission across 35 areas, from the economy to human rights, with fishing rights expected to be among the most sensitive issues.
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Trump’s remarks on Greenland, a self-governing territory of Denmark around 290 km from Iceland, have had an impact on the debate. Although Trump has said he would not use force to seize Greenland, his interest has not appeared to fade. For many in Iceland, that has raised a wider question about whether closer ties with Europe would offer protection in the North Atlantic. Iceland’s left-leaning coalition government, elected in 2024, brought forward the referendum from next year, largely for that reason. “We can’t really trust the US anymore,” said Hildur Knutsdottir, a horror fiction writer who plans to vote in favour of EU membership.
The issue of EU membership has been contentious in Iceland before. The country formally ended its previous bid to join the bloc in 2015, largely because of concerns over what membership could mean for its rich fish resources. Fishing remains central to Iceland’s economy and identity, with cod and haddock catches from Arctic waters playing a major role in national life. If Iceland joins the EU, it would have to enter the bloc’s common fisheries policy, which would open its waters to Spanish, Dutch and other trawlers. The government has said it would seek a special arrangement, possibly a full opt-out from that policy.
Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir has stressed in the final days of campaigning that Saturday’s vote is only about restarting negotiations, not about joining the bloc immediately. “This is not an election about membership and not about adaptation, as there will be another referendum on an accession agreement if the result is yes,” Frostadottir told a rally.
For many voters, the referendum is also about sovereignty and identity. Iceland, which became independent from Denmark in 1944, has long taken pride in defending its interests, including during the Cod Wars with Britain in the 1970s over fishing grounds. Supporters of EU membership say Iceland should move closer to its European neighbours to tackle cross-border issues such as climate change. Opponents argue the current arrangement works well, with Iceland already part of the EU’s single market and the Schengen free-travel area, without giving up further sovereignty. “I think Iceland is better off outside of the EU, within the close collaboration with the EU,” former prime minister Katrin Jakobsdottir told The Associated Press. As Iceland votes, the result will decide whether the country reopens a long-frozen membership process shaped by both security fears and the future of its fishing waters.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
