Close race as Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU
A bilingual Dutch story with sentence-by-sentence English translation. Level: BEGINNER (CEFR). Tap any word in the DuoBook reader for an instant translation.
Op zaterdag stemden mensen in IJsland over de vraag of gesprekken over lidmaatschap van de Europese Unie opnieuw moesten beginnen.
On Saturday, people in Iceland voted on whether to restart talks about joining the European Union.
De gesprekken waren dertien jaar eerder gestopt, dus de stemming was belangrijk voor het kleine land.
The talks had stopped thirteen years earlier, so the vote was important for the small country.
De strijd was heel spannend: in de laatste peiling kreeg de Nee-campagne 51,6 procent, maar een eerdere peiling liet meer steun voor Ja zien.
The race was very close: the latest poll gave the No campaign 51.6 percent, but an earlier poll had shown more support for Yes.
Premier Kristrún Frostadóttir bracht het referendum naar voren omdat internationale gebeurtenissen onzekerder waren geworden.
Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir moved the referendum forward because international events had become more uncertain.
Veel kiezers spraken echter meer over de visserij en nationale onafhankelijkheid dan over veiligheid, hoewel IJsland lid is van de NAVO.
However, many voters spoke more about fishing and national independence than about security, even though Iceland is a NATO member.
De stembureaus waren open van 09.00 tot 22.00 uur GMT, en meer dan één op de vijf kiezers had al vroeg gestemd.
Polling stations were open from 09:00 to 22:00 GMT, and more than one in five voters had already voted early.
Met minder dan 400.000 inwoners wachtte IJsland op de uitslag, die zondagochtend vroeg werd verwacht.
With fewer than 400,000 people in the country, Iceland waited for the result, which was expected early on Sunday.
Vocabulary (Dutch)
- referendum
- referendum
- to restart talks
- gesprekken opnieuw beginnen
- the race is close
- de strijd is spannend
- opinion poll
- opiniepeiling
- fishing industry
- visserij
- national independence
- nationale onafhankelijkheid
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