Iceland looks to fast-track vote on joining EU

Iceland is weighing a vote on restarting EU membership talks as early as August, according to two people familiar with the country's accession preparations, Report informs via Politico.

It comes as momentum for EU enlargement appears to be growing, with Brussels working on a plan that could give Ukraine partial membership in the bloc as early as next year, and with accession front-runner Montenegro closing another negotiating chapter last month.

Reykjavík's governing coalition had promised to hold a referendum on restarting EU accession talks by 2027, after a previous government froze negotiations in 2013. But the timeline is being sped up at a time of geopolitical upheaval and following a decision by Washington to impose tariffs on Iceland and threats by US President Donald Trump to annex Greenland.

The Icelandic parliament is expected to announce the date of the ballot within the next few weeks, according to the two people who were granted anonymity to speak freely. The move comes after a flurry of visits by EU politicians to Iceland and by Icelandic politicians to Brussels. If Icelanders vote yes, they could join the EU before any other candidate country, one of the people said.