Iceland rejects EU-accession talks in close-fought referendum

REYKJAVIK, Aug 30: Icelanders voted to stay out of the European Union, referendum results showed on Sunday, as they rejected a government push to reopen membership talks and sided with those who said Iceland's fishing waters were too important to risk.

The Arctic island of 400,000 people has debated whether to join the EU for well over a decade and had initially been expected to narrowly back holding membership talks, but opinion polls this month showed views had changed.

"This is a clear setback for Brussels," an EU diplomat told Reuters, adding that the issues of fishing and independence had been decisive.

In Saturday's referendum, 52.8% of ballots cast were against the government's proposal to hold negotiations with Brussels, 47.2% were in favour, and 82.5% of eligible voters took part, public broadcaster RUV and other Icelandic media reported.�"REUTERS