Iceland withdraws bid to join EU
Iceland has withdrawn its bid to join the European Union, saying its interests are best served outside the 28-nation bloc.
EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said the EU would “fully respect such a decision”, and underlined that Iceland remains an important partner.
Iceland started membership negotiations in 2010 looking to better anchor itself to Europe two years after its economy imploded amid a banking collapse.
The biggest challenges to those talks were fishing rights and agriculture. The new government froze the EU accession application when it came to power in 2013.
