A narrow majority of Icelanders oppose resuming accession negotiations with the European Union, according to the latest Gallup poll conducted ahead of Saturday's referendum.

The poll, conducted 24–27 August among a sample of 4,583 people, found that 51.6% of respondents oppose negotiations with Brussels, while 48.4% support them. This marks a reversal from an earlier poll by the Maskina agency, in which 51.3% of respondents favored negotiations and 48.7% were against.

Saturday's vote will not directly decide on membership. If negotiations resume, citizens would have to approve any agreement to join the bloc in a subsequent referendum.

Reykjavík suspended accession talks in 2013, four years after submitting its application, when a Euroskeptic government came to power. However, rising living costs and the war in Ukraine have reopened the question of European integration.

The government describes the current decision as a "now or never" moment. Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir stated in August that rejecting the negotiations would put an end to speculation about the country's accession to the European Union.

(Reuters, bak)