Iceland’s voters have rejected a proposal to restart negotiations on joining the European Union, more than a decade after previous talks ended, according to the national broadcaster RUV on Sunday. The referendum pitted concerns about geopolitical stability against the desire to keep national control of Iceland’s prized fisheries.

Opponents defeated the measure 52.8% to 47.2%, RUV reported. The capital, Reykjavik, was the only area in the island nation of 400,000 people where a majority backed the referendum.

Saturday’s vote took place in the shadow of repeated threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to take control of nearby Greenland. Although Iceland is a NATO member, supporters of EU accession argued that European solidarity would provide greater protection if Trump ever directed similar threats toward the volcanic island.

Iceland’s left-leaning coalition government, elected in 2024, moved up the EU referendum — originally planned for next year — after Trump mistakenly named Iceland four times while speaking about his designs on Greenland.

Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir, who campaigned in favor of the measure, said she hoped the outcome would not divide the nation.

“I don’t feel that there is bitterness,” she told RUV before the final results were tallied. “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.”

Voters faced a simple yes-or-no question: Should Iceland resume accession negotiations with the European Union? Turnout was high, with more than 82% of the 270,000 eligible voters casting ballots.

The overnight count kept the nation on edge. The “Yes” campaign took an early lead before results swung toward the opposition. By dawn, only a few hundred votes separated the two camps, and the gap widened as more ballots were tallied in regions where opposition was stronger.

“This isn’t the time to go. Maybe 10, 15, 20 years or more, like, we can take another look,” said Daniel Bjarkason, who voted against the measure. “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 do it.”

The influential fishing industry led opposition to the referendum, fearing the bloc’s common fisheries policy would open Iceland’s waters to Spanish, Dutch, and other trawlers. The descendants of Vikings, who won independence from Denmark in 1944, have lived off the sea for centuries, and fishing is central to Iceland’s national identity. The country also has a proud history of resisting pressure from bigger and richer European nations, having won the so-called Cod Wars with Britain in the 1970s over the right to control its waters.

Opponents also pointed out that Iceland already enjoys the benefits of the EU’s frictionless single market and the Schengen free-travel zone without the sovereignty compromises of full membership. That arrangement stems from the European Economic Area agreement Iceland signed in the early 1990s, which gives it single-market access while exempting key sectors — notably fisheries and agriculture — from many EU rules, a carve-out that full membership would not guarantee. They argued that Iceland’s voice would be diluted in the large European Parliament and that the country would be better off negotiating its own trade deals, such as one with China.

Supporters countered that EU membership would lower inflation and interest rates, and that adopting the euro would bring greater stability than Iceland’s volatile króna. They also argued that closer ties with European neighbors were in the national interest to address cross-border issues such as climate change.

Had the proposal passed, it would have been a preliminary step toward reviving the lengthy negotiating process with the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, covering areas from the economy to human rights. Iceland first applied for membership in 2009 in the aftermath of its banking collapse, but the center-right governments elected after the crisis froze the accession talks, which were formally withdrawn in 2015 — making Saturday’s result a second rejection of the EU path in a decade. Voters would still have needed to approve any negotiated deal.

The result is likely to disappoint many in the European Union. Beyond being a relatively wealthy, stable, and democratic country with vast fishing grounds, Iceland could have joined the bloc relatively quickly. Croatia was the last country to join, in 2013.

Most of the other candidates awaiting accession — including several Balkan countries, Moldova, and conflict-torn Ukraine — must still carry out time-consuming reforms to align their laws and standards with those of the EU.

Bringing Iceland into Europe’s wealthy club, perhaps alongside Montenegro and possibly Moldova, over the next two years could have helped repair the damage caused by Britain’s departure in 2020, even though London now appears willing to mend ties.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.