SELFOSS: Icelanders are to vote on Saturday on whether to resume entry talks with the European Union amid growing global insecurity, in a referendum seen as going down to the wire. Icelanders are not being asked to decide just yet if they want to join the 27-member bloc — only whether they want their government to negotiate possible terms, including on the highly sensitive fishing issue.
"This is an opportunity; it's not a final decision," Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir said, arguing that the referendum paved the way for a "risk-reducing 'Yes'. "This way you get a deal on the table; you're able to see all the questions, the answers to all the questions we get here," she said. She was speaking after a "listening meeting" in Selfoss, one of the many small towns the Social Democratic leader has visited to hear Icelanders' questions and concerns on the issue.
On Saturday, voters will be asked to answer "Yes" or "No" to the question: "Should Iceland resume accession negotiations with the European Union?" Implied is the question of whether the country of 400,000 inhabitants ultimately thinks it best to remain the captain of its own ship, or hitch its cart to the EU. — AFP
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