Choppy waters ahead as Iceland gets ready for its own EU referendum

In this week’s newsletter: After Trump’s interventions over Greenland, there are many in Iceland who believe they would be stronger in the EU. But will its recent history of independence win out? Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here As the UK marks the tenth anniversary of its fateful Brexit referendum next Tuesday, Iceland is fast approaching its moment of truth about the EU – albeit from the opposite direction. On 29 August, Icelanders will be asked whether or not to they want to come back to the table with Brussels for negotiations about joining the EU. Iceland originally applied in 2009 after the financial crash, but pulled out of talks in 2013 saying it couldn’t go any further without a referendum. Now, after more than a decade on hold, membership talks are back on the agenda. When I met Iceland’s youngest ever prime minister, Kristrún Frostadóttir, last year she said she expected a referendum in 2027 as a “necessary step forward”. But that was before Donald Trump’s threats to invade Iceland’s closest neighbour Greenland. Iceland’s government, no doubt driven by the sudden geopolitical focus on the Arctic, announced that the referendum would be brough