Tuesday, 25 August 2026Europe
Independent · Brussels & Berlin
Person
Deputy director, International Center for Defense and Security
Voters decide on August 29 whether to resume membership negotiations paused in 2013. A yes vote would make Iceland the wealthiest applicant in decades and test the EU's appeal beyond its eastern frontier.
Brussels has opened the first accession treaty working group in 17 years for Montenegro, but disagreement over veto rights, staged integration and institutional reform threatens to stall wider enlargement.
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