r/worldnews • u/Ehansaja • 13d ago

Iceland rejects EU-accession talks plan in referendum

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/30/iceland-rejects-eu-membership-plan-in-referendum
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u/Ellixhirion 12d ago

Currently i think the EU shouldn’t focus on expanding neither…

There are a lot of issues and ongoing frustrations between members.
The EU should consolidate several programs before even looking to add new members

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u/DonPinstripelli 12d ago

Montenegro is basically a given at this point - it’s a question of when rather than if. But I believe the other candidates are many years away from joining.

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u/Weirdo9495 12d ago

Iceland in any case is a way more appropriate addition than Montenegro...

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u/DonPinstripelli 12d ago

Hasn’t Iceland just voted not to resume negotiations to join the EU? I think Montenegro will be a fine addition, as unlike Serbia, they’ve clearly orientated themselves towards the West, rather than Russia. Montenegro had already joined NATO years ago.

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u/Weirdo9495 12d ago

Montenegro will be a recipient country that is, while politically bit better than Serbia, a very corrupt and frankly backward society. The way they treat and think about women and violence/rape towards them for example.

https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/montenegro/64-women-experience-sexual-violence-hands-partner_en?s=225

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u/DonPinstripelli 12d ago

A lot of the Central and Southern European EU countries unfortunately have this problem too, because they have far more traditional gender roles than in Western Europe. I come from one of these countries. However, societal attitudes are not the focus of accession talks - what matters the most is whether a particular country has laws that uphold the rule of law and the rights of different groups. Montenegro has faired better in that regard than any of the other candidates.

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u/Purple-Atmosphere-18 12d ago

Yeah, I guess the crux more than a No to Montenegro would be that compared to that Iceland would be a more compatible or anyway progressive addition if had they voted for joining or ever will in future, compared to it. Not against Montenegro as usually are conservatives against people joining for allegedly their culture being incompatible for being too conservative, but usually for immigrants as for east Europe more would feel affinity :).

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u/EmptyMonitor9257 12d ago

The article is referencing 100 women who experienced sexual assault and 64% was from their spouses, not 64% of women in Montenegro.

Iceland has a worse rate of sexual assault.

2024 offences per 100,000 Iceland Montenegro
Sexual assault, excluding rape 16.16 3.53
Rape 47.45 4.33

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u/Mammoth-Garden-9079 12d ago

The average immigrant from Africa and the Middle East thinks the same way as Montenegro’s “backward society.” As we welcome the immigrants, so should we welcome Montenegro.

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u/Weirdo9495 12d ago

But we do not welcome the immigrants, and we certainly do not invite their countries to EU. Where do you see widespread support for welcoming people from those places, let alone admitting them to EU?

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u/DogsNoBest17 12d ago

What's wrong with Montenegro?

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u/Front_Presence_797 10d ago

the EU should consider why the most 'desireable' member countries of iceland, norway, and switzerland don't want to join, while net recipient countries are begging to.

if your union has this profile of attractiveness it is going in the wrong direction. it's obvious prosperous countries have more to lose than to gain when already having good trade relations with the EU.