It would be tempting to dismiss it as too small to matter: Iceland has just 400,000 inhabitants, and its referendum was not even about EU membership, just about whether to pick up long-suspended talks.
But for the EU, it was no trivial embarrassment that a narrow majority of Icelanders turned down their government’s invitation to give the bloc another look. Rather than moving quickly on, the EU would do well to think about what it should do differently.
The vote is a setback for the EU and its ability to be a pole of attraction in an unstable world. Geopolitical turmoil could not persuade a majority of Icelanders even to explore what the bloc’s 450mn inhabitants might be able to offer them. The rejection is also a blow to the EU’s ambitions for influence in the Arctic.