“Should Iceland resume accession negotiations with the European Union?”
This is the question being put to 270,000 Icelanders on Saturday 29 August. From 9am local time, eligible voters will head to the polls to chart their nation's course closer to the European Union — or further away.
The results from the referendum will determine whether the island of 400,000 people should restart negotiations to join the 27-member bloc, or place the revived idea on the backburner for the foreseeable future.
Early polling shows that the results will most likely be down to the wire. An August survey by polling agency Maskína showed a narrow lead, with 51.3% of respondents in favour of restarting talks and 48.7% opposed.
The split indicates tensions over the upcoming plebiscite, which has exposed political fault lines in Iceland covering matters from security to the seas.
