Iceland-EU talks

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Iceland-EU talks: How to say “no” without quite saying it

LONDON | By Sigrún Davíðsdóttir (Icelandic State Broadcaster Rúv correspondent)| How to break up a relationship? Do you say you need a break, yet making it clear it’s finite – or do you make a clean cut and say it as it is, that you really don’t want to stay in this relationship? The Icelandic government is having a major difficulty in breaking up with the European Union although the relationship was only that of negotiating a further relationship. Saying “no, it’s over” seems difficult – and that is exactly what foreigners often say about Icelanders: they find it difficult to commit themselves to final decisions.