Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
On Saturday 29 August Iceland held a referendum on whether or not to restart negotiations with the EU on joining that entity. The result was that 52,8% of the voters, 118.040 people, said no, and 47,2% or 105.339 people, voted yes. The vote was brought about by the decision of the sitting coalition government in Iceland, and was originally planned for 2027, but early this year the referendum was moved forward by some months, with government ministers citing international uncertainty as a reason.
In this bonus episode The Reykjavík Grapevine’s Jón Trausti Sigurðarson and Bart Cameron along with contributing journalist Elías Þórsson talk about the origins of the referendum, allt the way to the results, the national discourse leading up to the referendum, the murky campaign finance laws it exposed, the unexpected political alliances during it, interesting - yet not surprising - trends within some voter demographics and what the result may - or may not mean for Iceland, for the EU and for the EEA.
Timestamps
00:00:14 — Introduction and overview
00:01:07 — Why the referendum was held
00:04:59 — Turnout analysis & election results
00:14:58 — The campaign shift: Identity politics
00:27:53 — Demographics & The 'Brosphere'
00:30:23 — Unlikely Alliances
On Saturday 29 August Iceland held a referendum on whether or not to restart negotiations with the EU on joining that entity. The result was that 52,8% of the voters, 118.040 people, said no, and 47,2% or 105.339 people, voted yes. The vote was brought about by the decision of the sitting coalition government in Iceland, and was originally planned for 2027, but early this year the referendum was moved forward by some months, with government ministers citing international uncertainty as a reason.
In this bonus episode The Reykjavík Grapevine’s Jón Trausti Sigurðarson and Bart Cameron along with contributing journalist Elías Þórsson talk about the origins of the referendum, allt the way to the results, the national discourse leading up to the referendum, the murky campaign finance laws it exposed, the unexpected political alliances during it, interesting - yet not surprising - trends within some voter demographics and what the result may - or may not mean for Iceland, for the EU and for the EEA.
Timestamps
00:00:14 — Introduction and overview
00:01:07 — Why the referendum was held
00:04:59 — Turnout analysis & election results
00:14:58 — The campaign shift: Identity politics
00:27:53 — Demographics & The 'Brosphere'
00:30:23 — Unlikely Alliances
