Iceland heads to referendum on restarting EU accession talks
Voters decide on August 29 whether to reopen negotiations suspended in 2013, with security fears, fishing rights and mortgage rates driving a dead-heat campaign.
Monday, 17 August 2026Europe · Analysis
Independent · Brussels & Berlin
Topic · Thing
The process by which candidate countries join the European Union, and the internal reforms enlargement would require.
Voters decide on August 29 whether to reopen negotiations suspended in 2013, with security fears, fishing rights and mortgage rates driving a dead-heat campaign.
Financier backed by President Sandu wins 53-21 vote, inherits mandate to advance membership talks and restructure economy after predecessor's abrupt resignation
President Maia Sandu has named Horizon Capital partner Vasile Tofan to lead the government after Alexandru Munteanu's resignation, giving him 15 days to win parliamentary approval for a programme focused on economic revival and EU accession by 2028.
Brussels drafts incentives after Belgrade scales back contested judicial laws, but the Serbian president's surprise resignation announcement complicates the timing of any new cluster opening.
Kyiv's battlefield experience and defence innovation are reshaping European security debates, with Germany and the European Commission proposing deeper integration before full EU membership.
Intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg launches formal negotiations on five policy clusters, marking the start of a process that typically takes years and requires sweeping reforms in both candidate countries.
Albin Kurti's Vetëvendosje party won 43 percent of the vote but cannot form a majority, while the presidency sits vacant after Vjosa Osmani failed to secure a second term.
Civil Contract takes 49.81 percent of the vote, securing a parliamentary majority but falling short of the two-thirds threshold needed to ratify a constitutional referendum demanded by Azerbaijan.
Civil Contract takes roughly 54 percent in early counts, defeating pro-Russian alliance led by oligarch Samvel Karapetyan in first election since Nagorno-Karabakh loss.
Nikol Pashinyan seeks mandate for peace with Azerbaijan and EU integration while opposition leader Samvel Karapetyan campaigns from house arrest under Russian pressure.
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.
The latest ISEAS survey shows the EU is the region's preferred hedge against US-China rivalry, yet Brussels still struggles to convert goodwill into diplomatic weight.
Reykjavik considers moving a planned 2027 vote to August as Trump tariffs and Greenland ambitions reshape security calculations for the North Atlantic island.
With 94 days until April's vote, the prime minister's controlled press conference and a minister's mental-health slur against the opposition leader signal a campaign turning nasty, while Budapest redistricting and a Slovak language law add territorial stakes.
The lev disappears on 1 January after a fixed conversion rate of 1.95583 to the euro. Polls show the country almost evenly split, while the outgoing government collapsed weeks before the changeover.
The Balkan nation becomes the 21st eurozone member despite seven elections in four years, a resigned government and warnings that institutional weakness could undermine the currency's benefits.
Vetevendosje takes roughly 50 percent of the vote yet may need minority-party support to reach the 61 seats required in the 120-seat assembly, leaving government formation uncertain.
A seventh parliamentary election since independence tests whether the country can form a government and unlock €6 billion in EU growth funding.
Parliament dissolved in November after coalition talks collapsed. Voters return to the polls on 28 December with unemployment above 25 per cent and €820 million in EU funds still frozen.
Mikheil Kavelashvili tells DW the October vote was the cleanest in a decade, insists Georgian Dream still wants EU membership, and says Brussels must alter its 'attitude' before 2030.
President Vjosa Osmani dissolved parliament on Wednesday after parties failed to form a government by the constitutional deadline, setting a vote for 28 December that will be Kosovo's seventh since independence.
EU foreign policy chief names Montenegro and Albania as frontrunners while warning of democratic backsliding in Georgia and Serbia; Hungarian veto blocks Ukraine and Moldova talks
Voters choose mayors and councils across 81 municipalities while the country's EU bid remains blocked by Bulgaria, with the ruling VMRO-DPMNE leading polls but facing pressure over constitutional reform.
PAS secures 50.16% of the vote and 55 seats, defying pre-election polls that predicted a tight race, while diaspora voters deliver 17.5% of ballots amid bomb scares and alleged vote-buying operations.
President Maia Sandu's Party of Action and Solidarity secured 50.2% of the vote, but the opposition disputes the result and Moscow alleges voting restrictions for Moldovans in Russia.
Police say Moscow is spending more than $300 million, over three times last year's outlay, on vote-buying, disinformation and a foiled plot to train men for violent unrest before Sunday's parliamentary election.
Parliamentary election pits President Sandu's pro-European PAS against a Patriotic Electoral Bloc backed by Moscow, with inflation at 7.3%, €1.9 billion of EU aid at stake, and 1,500 Russian troops stationed in breakaway Transnistria.
With voting set for 28 September, Moldovan authorities detail vote-buying apps, AI disinformation and oligarch networks directed from Moscow as the Kremlin seeks to reverse the country's European trajectory.
Six prominent pro-Western politicians sentenced to prison for refusing to testify before a parliamentary commission, leaving most opposition leadership behind bars and drawing condemnation from Norway and Transparency International.
After 18 days crossing eight countries, student protesters arrive at EU institutions as European Parliament hardens stance on Serbia's democratic backsliding and €111 million in aid is frozen.
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