Close race as Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU - BBC News

Turbulent international affairs have brought the vote forward, but the campaign has focused more on Iceland's vital fishing industry.

Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesImage caption, Latest opinion polls have been so close that the result is impossible to call

Icelanders are voting in a referendum to decide whether to resume talks on joining the European Union, 13 years after they were broken off.

In an indication of how tight the result is expected to be, the latest opinion poll put the No campaign in the lead with 51.6%. An earlier poll had put the Yes campaign ahead.

Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir's centre-left government had already intended to hold a referendum, but turbulent international affairs prompted her to bring it forward.

But the debate was fought less over Nato member Iceland's security concerns than over its vital fishing industry and sovereignty.