REYKJAVIK, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Icelanders voted against resuming negotiations on the country's accession to the European Union (EU) in a referendum held Saturday.
Polling results published by Icelandic public broadcaster RUV on Sunday showed that 52.8 percent of voters opposed the negotiations, with 47.2 percent in favor.
Voter turnout reached 82.5 percent, the highest in any election in Iceland since the parliamentary elections in April 2009, when it was 85.1 percent. A total of 225,031 votes were cast this time, RUV reported.
Iceland applied for EU membership in 2009. Accession talks were suspended in 2013 after a Eurosceptic government took office. However, according to Icelandic parliamentary documents, the European Commission has maintained that the application was never formally withdrawn.
After the rejection of the accession talks, Iceland's relationship with the EU would continue largely through the European Economic Area and Schengen frameworks. Enditem
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