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REYKJAVIK: Icelanders have voted to stay out \u200bof the European Union, broadcaster RUV reported on Sunday, rejecting a government push to reopen membership talks and siding with \u200cthose who said Iceland\u2019s fishing waters were too important to risk.<\/strong><\/p>\n Some votes from one constituency are pending but these were not expected to change the outcome, RUV said.<\/p>\n A \u2018no\u2019 vote would disappoint Brussels, as some officials had cast the island nation of 400,000 as a low-risk case that could ease scepticism toward EU enlargement and strategically strengthen the bloc \u200bwhen Arctic security is in focus.<\/p>\n The government has framed membership as a shield against trade wars and Arctic rivalry and presented \u200bthe referendum as a \u201cnow or never\u201d moment, with Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir warning that a \u201cno\u201d would put the membership \u2060question aside.<\/p>\n The government is due to hold a press conference at 1 p.m. (1300 GMT).<\/p>\n DECADES OF MEMBERSHIP DEBATE<\/strong><\/p>\n Iceland first applied to join the EU in \u200b2009 when a financial crisis hit the country\u2019s small, exposed economy. A Eurosceptic government ended talks in 2013.<\/p>\n Geopolitical turmoil, including war in the Middle East and U.S. \u200bimport tariffs, has brought urgency to an issue Icelanders have debated on and off for decades.<\/p>\n \u201cYes\u201d campaigners have said joining the bloc could help to lower interest rates and offer more security in a world unsettled by the war in Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s rhetoric about annexing another Arctic island, Greenland.<\/p>\n \u201cNo\u201d campaigners said EU membership would threaten \u200bthe island\u2019s sovereignty and fishing waters.<\/p>\n The referendum campaign has fuelled debate about Iceland\u2019s place in the world, Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir told reporters after \u200bcasting her ballot in the capital on Saturday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been waiting for this for years to be able to have a vote,\u201d Frostadottir said, adding that her government \u200cwould continue \u2060its work regardless of the outcome.<\/p>\n INTEREST RATES AND THE COST OF LIVING<\/strong><\/p>\n Debates inside Iceland have focused on interest rates, fishing rights and the cost of living rather than on security.<\/p>\n Iceland has grappled with high inflation and interest rates that have made mortgages expensive.<\/p>\n Supporters of a \u201cyes\u201d vote have said EU membership, and possibly adopting the euro, could bring relief. Iceland\u2019s central bank interest rate is 8%, compared with 2.25% at the European Central Bank.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would \u200bnot solve Iceland\u2019s structural faults, but \u200bit could become a catalyst \u2060to a more healthy economy,\u201d said chief economist Vilhjalmur Hilmarsson at Viska, one of Iceland\u2019s largest labour unions.<\/p>\n Opposition leader Gudrun Hafsteinsdottir, who has led the \u201cno\u201d campaign, said the economic case is overstated. \u201cThese are not problems that Brussels \u200bwill solve for us. These are problems that Icelandic politicians must solve,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Voter Ragnhildur Skarphedinsdottir, 70, said \u200bIceland was managing \u2060well on its own and that she was voting \u201cno\u201d. Under EU rules, fishing quotas are based on historical fishing patterns, among other factors. Some Icelandic officials have said Iceland would therefore retain control of \u2060its waters, \u200bsince no EU country has fished there for decades.<\/p>\n Hafsteinsdottir disputes that. \u201cI know that the European \u200bUnion will come up with some promises of some flexibility, especially in the beginning, but we know that it will not be for good,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cBy staying independent as we are, we look brightly to the future,\u201d she said before casting her ballot in Reykjavik.<\/p>\n