Iceland voted against resuming talks to join the European Union, officials announced Sunday, as concerns over sovereignty trumped arguments for European integration.
Icelandic voters rejected the measure amid widespread concern over maintaining control over fishing rights, a backbone of the country’s economy. The vote, which showed domestic concerns overriding geopolitical ones, comes as the resource-rich Arctic gains strategic importance, with US President Donald Trump pushing to acquire neighboring Greenland.
Supporters of EU membership argued that closer ties with Europe could help strengthen the country’s security. The vote’s result is “a clear setback for Brussels,” an EU diplomat told Reuters, as the bloc seeks greater strategic weight at a time when European “security challenges are acute,” a Carnegie Endowment scholar wrote.