Voters in Iceland have rejected a plan to restart accession talks with the European Union, final referendum results showed on Sunday.

The 'No' camp secured victory with 52.8% of the votes, while the 'Yes' camp garnered 47.2% support, the official count published by public broadcaster RUV showed.

The capital, Reykjavik, was the only area in the island nation of 400,000 people to support the referendum.

Some 270,000 Icelanders were eligible to vote, 82% of whom did so.

Iceland PM: 'Not a setback'

Icelandic Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir, who backed the "yes" campaign, said she did not see her fellow citizens' vote as a defeat but as a fair democratic result.

"I don't see this as a setback. I see this as a victory for democracy," she said. "We had over 80% of the country participate in a matter like this."

She confirmed that her government was "not going forward with the accession talks this term" but that it would continue ⁠to strengthen ⁠its relationship ​with the ​European Economic ​Area.

"I don’t feel that there is bitterness," she said. "I know tempers run high for some people, but I have now spent time with a large group of people from all over the country and people are quite open to different outcomes."

Meanwhile, EU chief Antonio Costa told Frostadottir the bloc "fully respects the democratic choice" of the island's voters not to resume EU membership talks, according to a spokesperson.

"Iceland remains one of the EU's closest and most trusted partners," said the spokesperson for the European Council president.

Iceland opposition: 'This isn't the time'

The count through the night had the island nation on edge as the "Yes" campaign took an early lead, attributable largely to votes in the capital, Reykjavik, before results swung in favor of the opposition.

By dawn, only a few hundred votes separated the two camps before the gap grew as more ballots were tallied in rural areas of the country where opposition was greater.

"This isn't the time to go," one "No" voter, Daniel Bjarkason, told the Associated Press. 

"Maybe in 10, 15, 20 years or more, we can take another look. But, for now, we're too divided and that's not a good look. Because it should be 70-30 'Yes' if we're going to [join the EU]."

Neck-and-neck vote after long debate

Iceland has spent the better part of two decades wrestling with the question of becoming a member of the bloc. 

The Nordic country originally applied to join the EU in 2009 following the global financial crisis, which hit the country particularly hard.

Accession talks were suspended in 2013 after a euroskeptic government took office.

Iceland's current left-leaning government, elected in 2024, originally vowed to hold a referendum next year but brought the vote forward because of rising geopolitical tension over Russia's war in Ukraine and Greenland.

Fishing industry pulled weight

The decision puts to bed concerns among many voters that joining the bloc would undermine Iceland's sovereignty, with fishing rights a major concern.

The fisheries sector has been fiercely opposed to joining the bloc, with 90% of industry players against the idea.

The result is a disappointment to Brussels, which had appeared willing to compromise on thorny issues, including fishing and farming, to facilitate Iceland's accession.

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Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko, Natalie Muller, Sean Sinico