Iceland’s foreign minister fears ‘Brexit moment’ in EU accession referendum | Iceland

Iceland’s foreign minister said he feared his country was facing a “Brexit moment” in the upcoming EU referendum, amid warnings about misinformation, foreign interference and artificial intelligence.

With just over three months until Iceland votes on whether to continue accession talks with the EU, developments are being closely followed by Washington, Moscow and Brussels.

Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir accused individuals and groups from inside and outside the country of “fearmongering”, saying Iceland had been hit with misinformation and rhetoric taken “from the playbook of Nigel Farage and Reform”.

He said the referendum risked being targeted by Russia and “actors seeking to negatively influence public debate”. The minister warned that foreign interference and the spread of misinformation could affect the outcome.

“I fear we are facing a Brexit moment,” he told the Guardian. “From my point of view, that would have been a pretty dangerous path because… there were all kinds of lies that were being put out by the Brexiteers.” He touched on controversial figures used in the leave campaign about how much money the UK sends to the EU.

Þorgerður said Brexit “should be an example of how not to run a campaign” rather than something to emulate. “None of what they promised was actually implemented or realized,” he said.

Iceland’s coalition government, consisting of left-leaning parties the Social Democratic Alliance and the People’s Party and Þorgerður’s centre-right pro-European Liberal Reform party, surprised many when it announced in March that it would hold the EU referendum on 29 August, although it had previously stated that it would hold it before 2027.

The move was motivated in part by threats from the United States, Iceland’s long-time close ally, to seize its closest neighbor, Greenland, by force.

Þorgerður said: “From my point of view, the international order that has supported our security and prosperity for decades is under serious pressure. The world has changed so decisively that I would say Greenland of course influenced or had an impact on our decision.”

He said old alliances were being tested and trade was being used as a “political weapon”. “You don’t treat a friend and ally like Greenland and Denmark the way the United States did earlier this year.”

But he insisted that Iceland’s relations with the United States remained strong and that it was expanding its alliances. “Iceland being a member of the EU does not conflict with good relations with the USA. One thing does not exclude the other.”

When voting in the August referendum, Icelanders will be asked not whether they want to join the EU, but whether they want their government to continue accession talks with the bloc.

The country first applied for EU membership in 2009, and the following year the council agreed to open accession negotiations, but the Icelandic government withdrew in 2013.

If Icelanders vote yes, talks will continue, and if an agreement is reached, the government will hold a second referendum on whether to accept the agreement.

Opinion polls show that there is tight competition. According to a recent poll conducted by the foreign ministry, 42 percent of Icelanders were in favor of restarting accession talks, while 39 percent were against it.

Those in favor of joining the EU see it as important for international security and an opportunity for better integration in Europe, while opponents warn about its potential impact on fisheries, agriculture and Iceland’s sovereignty.

Fishing, which is one of the country’s biggest exports as well as being deeply tied to Icelandic culture and identity, is a particularly emotive area of ​​debate.

Þorgerður called on Icelandic voters to “make up their own minds” and be mindful of their sources. He said some political parties were spreading misinformation in the same way critics believe Ukip did ahead of the UK Brexit referendum.

“It’s as if they’re taking the playbook from Nigel Farage and Reform and that is of course worrying,” he said.

A Reform spokesman said: “Reform England has no connection with Iceland.” They added: “We wish them success in their stay outside the EU.”

Þorgerður’s comments came after Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir warned that foreign influence in the referendum “will not be tolerated, whether from the European Union, China, Russia or the United States”.

President Halla Tómasdóttir issued a warning about the dangers of artificial intelligence, saying that artificial intelligence can “instantly produce content that appears credible but is misleading, spread unverified information extremely quickly, and affect our opinions and well-being in ways that we are not always aware of.”

Hafsteinn Einarsson, an associate professor at the University of Iceland who focuses on artificial intelligence, said he thought Iceland was not equipped to clearly inform the public about the referendum. It found that AI models often responded to popular questions about Iceland’s referendum using unreliable sources, while it was becoming increasingly easy for humans to use AI to mass-produce misinformation.

“What I worry about is that people seeking information ask AI models questions about the referendum and referendum-related issues, then they are given an answer, and because they trust the AI, they may not even check the sources, and many people accept it as fact,” Einarsson said.