Iceland must find new ways to strengthen its security after voters rejected restarting European Union accession talks, Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Gunnarsdottir told Reuters on Aug. 31, pointing to deeper ties with the bloc and bilateral cooperation. In Saturday’s referendum, 52.8% voted against the government’s proposal to reopen membership negotiations and 47.2% voted in favour, with turnout at 82.5%; the reported No total was 105,339 ballots. Gunnarsdottir said the geopolitical situation remains and that Iceland will strengthen EU partnership and EEA cooperation, while looking at bilateral agreements already in place with Finland and Norway and partners such as Japan and Canada. U.S. President Donald Trump’s stated interest in acquiring neighbouring Greenland and doubts about Washington’s NATO commitment have sharpened Iceland’s security debate. The Arctic island of 400,000 people is a NATO member with no standing army and relies on a 1951 bilateral defence agreement with the United States plus NATO membership. Iceland has been in the European Economic Area since 1994, gaining single-market access without full EU membership, and Gunnarsdottir said all Icelandic parties are now united behind the EEA. As an EEA member rather than an EU state, Iceland is not currently automatically subject to the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), with crypto activity mainly under general financial laws and no formal timetable for MiCA’s EEA incorporation. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul expressed regret over the vote and urged the EU to become more attractive to prospective members, including through northward expansion. Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir said the membership question would not return under the current government, while a decision on withdrawing the 2009 application remains open.