The President of the European Council, António Costa, has expressed the absolute respect of the European Union for the result of the referendum held this Saturday in Iceland, which has led to the suspension of the accession negotiations to the community bloc, and has emphasized that the Nordic country continues to be a key partner for Brussels.
Costa had already exchanged messages with the Icelandic Prime Minister, Kristrún Frostadóttir, before the press conference held this afternoon by the Government of Iceland to analyze the verdict of the ballots.
With a very high turnout of 82.5%, the highest since the 2009 legislative elections, the 'No' to the resumption of talks has prevailed with 52.8% (118,040 ballots), placing more than five percentage points ahead of the support to resume dialogue with Brussels, which has reached 47.2% (105,399 votes), according to the final official data from the referendum.
Iceland had opened the negotiation process for its entry into the EU in 2010, although it suspended it three years later, among other reasons, due to the clashes regarding the consequences it would have for the common fisheries policy. The triumph of 'No' reflects that the electorate has not endorsed the promises of the Prime Minister and, especially, of the liberal Minister of Economy, Dadi Már Kristófersson, the main promoter of the consultation, who advocated protecting the fishing sector, responsible for approximately 40% of the country's GDP.
In his conversation, Costa highlighted that the EU "fully respects" the "democratic choice of the Icelandic people in the referendum."
In addition, he emphasized that Iceland "remains one of the closest and most reliable partners of the EU, even through the European Economic Area."