Media, Iceland aims to speed up vote on EU membership

Iceland is considering voting as early as next to resume negotiations for full membership of the European Union, according to two sources close to the accession dossier. This was said byPolitico, a US online newspaper, which mainly covers politics and excellent coverage of European affairs, in an article by Zoya Sheftalovich, the paper's chief correspondent for Europe.

The revival of the Icelandic accession process comes at a time when momentum for EU enlargement seems to be growing, with Brussels working on a plan that could grant Ukraine partial membership of the bloc as early as next year, and with Montenegro, a favourite for membership, closing another chapter of negotiations last month.

The governing coalition in Reykjavík, writes Politico, had promised to hold a referendum on restarting EU accession negotiations by 2027, after the previous government had frozen the talks in 2013. However, the timetable was accelerated at a time of geopolitical upheaval and following Washington's decision dto impose tariffs on Iceland and US President Donald Trump's threats to annex Greenland.

The Icelandic parliament is expected to announce the date of the vote within the next few weeks, according to two people who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak freely. The move comes after a series of visits by EU politicians to Iceland and Icelandic politicians to Brussels. If Icelanders vote yes, they could join the EU sooner than any other candidate country, said one of the sources consulted by the US newspaper.

According to the European Commission, the enlargement debate is no longer just economic but strategic. President Ursula von der Leyen called cooperation with Iceland a factor of stability in a volatile global context. In the event of a favourable referendum result, Iceland could become the next country to join the EU, ahead of other official candidates.