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Icelanders voted Saturday on whether to reopen negotiations to join the European Union, with President Donald Trump’s push for U.S. control of neighboring Greenland adding a new security dimension to a debate that has divided the NATO ally for years.
Iceland, strategically positioned in the North Atlantic and roughly 180 miles from Greenland, has no military of its own and relies on NATO and a longstanding defense agreement with the United States for its security, according to RTE and The Associated Press.
Trump’s repeated interest in acquiring Greenland has unsettled some Icelanders and raised questions about whether closer ties with the EU could provide another layer of security for the island nation, the AP reported.
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Roughly 275,000 eligible voters were asked whether Iceland should resume membership negotiations with the EU. As of Saturday evening, the result had not been officially called.
If the referendum passes, Iceland would resume negotiations with the EU, followed by another referendum on actual membership, RTE reported.
Iceland’s government, led by Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir, has vowed to respect the result, although the referendum is technically nonbinding.
“This has been a tight race, extremely exciting,” Frostadóttir said after voting Saturday.
She said the campaign had “lifted discussions about the EU, about Iceland’s place in the world, about our general geopolitical situation and status, to a higher level.”
While domestic and economic issues have played a central role in the referendum campaign, Trump’s ambitions for neighboring Greenland have also cast a shadow over Iceland’s debate about its place in Europe and the broader geopolitical landscape.
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Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in acquiring Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory, previously saying the U.S. would obtain the strategically important Arctic island “one way or the other.”
The Trump administration has also previously weighed options for acquiring Greenland, including the potential use of military force. Such a move against territory belonging to Denmark, a fellow NATO member, would pose an extraordinary challenge to the alliance and its collective-defense commitments.
Trump has also mistakenly referred to Iceland while discussing Greenland on multiple occasions, according to the AP.
Iceland itself was drawn into the discussion earlier this year after former Rep. Billy Long, who is now Trump’s ambassador to Iceland, apologized for privately joking to House lawmakers that the country could become the “52nd state” with him as its governor.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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