199. Is Trump's Chaos Pushing Iceland Towards the EU? (Prime Minister of Iceland, Kristrún Frostadóttir)
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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All of this Greenland matter concerns people. It's a huge problem. The fact that we have leaders in the free world talking like this is an issue. And I know Icelanders are very concerned about it. I think this is a great time for Iceland to join the EU because of the geopolitical situation we're in.
This is not a referendum about joining the European Union.
No, it's a referendum on getting a deal. Do you want us to reopen talks, finish the negotiations? Then once we have an agreement, we will have another referendum and you will say yes or no. It's not a given in today's world that we have a voice and that people listen to us. It's not a given that you are an independent country, even in today's world.
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Welcome to The Rest Is Polly's Leading with me, Alastair Campbell. And with me, Rory Stewart. And I am in Reykjavik with Kristrun Frostadottir, Prime Minister of Iceland, where on August the 29th, the people here will have a referendum on whether to reopen EU accession negotiations, a decision which has implications well beyond Iceland, touches Arctic security, EU enlargement strategy, and indeed the transatlantic alliance. She's one of the youngest prime ministers in the world. She is a left of center leader who once lived in Manchester and not a lot of people know that. And on the day that Andy Burnham takes over from Keir Starmer, I in particular, I'm very, very keen to talk about how social democracy wins and thrives in the Trumpian populist age.
So thank you for...
Thanks for having me. That was quite the introduction. There you go.
Thank you so much. I would love to start you, partly because of British trauma from the Brexit referendum, talking a little bit about this referendum on considering negotiating with the EU and what the history of this is and what this means to Iceland.
I suppose this is quite unusual, the fact that we're having a referendum on opening talks. But I think it's important that people know the backdrop of this. I mean, Iceland is... I mean, it's very close to the EU. Some would say we're even 75% in the EU. We're in the economic area. We were part of EFTA. We have very close-knit ties to the European Union. A lot of the Nordics, except for Norway, like us, are in the EU. And we are... I want to say maybe there are technical aspects to this, but we're one of the only countries or few countries that has never actually seen an agreement to join the EU. We've never had a vote on this. The people have never gotten to have a say on whether they want to fully join the EU or not.
We went down this route in 2010 after the financial crisis. And then at that point, the government started these negotiations or these talks with the EU. And it was during a very difficult time for Iceland. We were, I want to say, sort of on our knees. We were financially insecure. Our identity was broken. This was seen as a way to sort of fix every issue that we had in a short term.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–9:03
2
Why has Iceland brought forward a referendum on reopening EU accession talks?
9:03–21:54
3
What exactly will the August referendum ask Icelanders to decide?
21:54–23:24
4
What are the main arguments for and against reopening EU negotiations in Iceland?
23:24–35:25
5
What economic and business concerns drive Icelandic skepticism about EU membership?
35:25–40:59
6
Why does the Prime Minister think geopolitical changes (including US comments about Greenland) make EU talks timely?
40:59–54:31
7
How did the Brexit experience shape Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir’s approach to campaigning?
54:31–1:04:03
Speakers
5 identifiedMore from The Rest Is Politics: Leading
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