Iceland EU referendum on a knife edge as counting continues

Chris GrahamIceland's closely fought referendum on whether to resume membership talks with the European Union is going down to wire, with the result too close to call.Based on the first 153,197 votes counted of the 270,000 voters eligible, 50.1% rejected the government's proposal, while 49.9% said yes, public broadcaster RUV said, with just 435 votes splitting them. Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir's centre-left government promised to hold a referendum by 2027, but brought it forward because of international tensions, including US President Donald Trump's threats against Greenland.However, debate in this island nation of almost 400,000 people centred more on its fishing industry rather than security concerns.Already part of the EU's single market and Schengen border-free zone, EU membership would bring Iceland into the customs union and eventually the euro.Iceland began its application to join the EU in 2009 in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and the collapse of Iceland's banking system. Its application was already well advanced when a eurosceptic government came to power in 2013 and put talks on hold. Fishing rights was the biggest obstacle then - as it remains today.