by Xinhua writers Zhu Haochen, Weng Xinyang and Meng Fanyu
REYKJAVIK, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- At a polling station inside the Kringlan branch of Reykjavik City Library on Saturday, voters streamed in and out as Icelanders cast ballots in a nationwide referendum on whether to restart accession talks with the European Union (EU).
For a country of around 400,000 people in the middle of the North Atlantic, the ballot offered only two choices: "Yes" or "No." A "Yes" vote would authorize the government to reopen membership negotiations with the EU.
Yet conversations with voters across the country suggested that the issues behind the referendum were far from a simple binary choice.
A staff member at the Kringlan polling station told Xinhua that public interest in the referendum had been high.
"Iceland has long faced many problems, particularly in the economic and financial fields, and domestic policies alone are not enough to solve them," he said. "Many people hope that moving closer to the EU could offer Iceland another way forward."
At the same polling station, an elderly voter who had just cast his ballot saw things very differently.
He acknowledged that Iceland faced long-standing challenges but insisted they were for Icelanders themselves to address.
"These are Iceland's own affairs. We should handle our own affairs ourselves," he said, arguing that the country should remain independent and avoid outside interference. "Besides, the EU itself is beset by crises."
The contrast was echoed elsewhere in the capital.
At a polling station in Reykjavik City Hall, three students from the University of Iceland said they had all voted "Yes."
One of them, Frodi Gunnlaugsson, said fluctuations in the Icelandic krona and inflation had caused serious difficulties for both the economy and ordinary households. High housing prices, he said, had also left many young people unable to afford a home and settle down.
He also voiced dissatisfaction with what he described as problems concerning government integrity and governance. For him, closer integration with Europe could offer a way to break out of Iceland's current difficulties.
For other Icelanders, however, some issues should not be placed lightly on the negotiating table.
Fisheries, both an economic pillar and an important part of Iceland's national identity, have long stood at the center of the country's debate over EU membership. Official data show that marine products accounted for nearly 40 percent of Iceland's total goods exports in 2025.
Sveinn Margeirsson, a senior executive at major Icelandic seafood company Brim, told Xinhua that Iceland had spent decades building a fisheries system based on expanded jurisdiction over its surrounding waters, science-based quotas and higher value-added production.
If Iceland were to restart accession talks and eventually join the EU, its fisheries could come under the bloc's Common Fisheries Policy, raising questions over how management powers and fishing quotas would be determined and whether Iceland's existing restrictions on foreign ownership could be maintained.
Margeirsson said keeping control of fisheries resources in Icelandic hands was crucial because it affected the entire chain from harvesting and processing to employment and trade, and ultimately whether the value created by the industry would remain in Iceland.
He said he had voted "No."
Foreign policy and geopolitics also weighed on the debate.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly made remarks about taking control of Greenland, another North Atlantic island. U.S. media have also reported that Billy Long, nominated to serve as U.S. ambassador to Iceland, once joked that Iceland could become the "52nd state" of the United States.
Such remarks, together with doubts over U.S. reliability and concerns about NATO's future, have added to the strategic uncertainty facing Iceland, a NATO member with no standing army.
At the vote-counting center in Reykjavik's Laugardalsholl arena on Saturday night, staff member Bjorn Arnar Karason told Xinhua that he had voted "Yes," partly because of what he saw as a more unsettled international environment and U.S. rhetoric over Greenland.
Joining the EU, he said, might offer Iceland an additional layer of security.
"Greenland is our northern neighbor," Karason said. "The U.S. interest in Greenland makes me feel as if there is always a dark cloud hanging over us."
According to Icelandic public broadcaster RUV, more than 220,000 of the country's roughly 270,000 registered voters cast ballots in the referendum.
Preliminary results showed 52.8 percent voting against restarting EU accession talks and 47.2 percent in favor, securing victory for the "No" side.
Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir said at a press conference on Sunday that the government respected the result and would not pursue EU accession negotiations during its current term.
The referendum has settled the immediate question of whether Iceland should return to the negotiating table. The deeper issues it exposed, however, remain.
Rejecting renewed talks does not remove the economic and social pressures that helped bring the EU question back into Icelandic politics. At the same time, geopolitical uncertainty continues to complicate the country's security and strategic choices.
For some Icelanders, deeper European integration offers the prospect of greater economic stability and security. For others, preserving national independence and control over fisheries, agriculture and natural resources remains paramount.
The vote may have closed one path for now, but Iceland still faces a broader challenge: how to strengthen its economy and navigate a changing international environment without giving up the degree of autonomy many Icelanders are determined to preserve. ■
