Iceland Roundup: Citizenship, 2026 Budget, TikTok & International Students, Trans Rights, Protests

The Reykjavík Grapevine’s Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin editor Aðalsteinn Kjartansson (and his sister’s dog, Depill) and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to round up the stories making headlines in recent weeks.

In this episode, we cover:

Roberto Luigi Pagani, an Italian scholar who has taught Icelandic and how to read old Icelandic manuscripts at the University of Iceland, and has lived here since 2014, was recently denied Icelandic citizenship because he has not passed the Icelandic language test;

Minister of Finance Daði Már Kristófersson introduced next year’s budget this morning. The plan is to run a 15 billion ISK deficit in 2026, with the goal of eliminating the deficit by 2027;

Morgunblaðið reported this morning that a 40% increase in foreign student applications, specifically from students who also require residence permits, may be linked to numerous TikTok videos promoting the fact that university education in Iceland is free, and that students can bring their families with them. The Grapevine has received several emails from students who applied to study at the University of Iceland this semester, but whose residence permits were not processed in time for them to attend classes;

Last Monday, RÚV invited MP and former podcaster Snorri Másson, who has repeatedly claimed that there is “no freedom of speech” when it comes to discussing trans rights and policies in Iceland, onto a programme to debate Þorbjörg Þorvaldsdóttir, spokesperson for Iceland’s National Queer Organisation. What followed was 20 minutes of Snorri interrupting Þorbjörg, making no substantial arguments, and positioning himself as a victim. The following day, it was reported that police special forces had been stationed outside Snorri’s home that night for security reasons. Snorri then issued a statement claiming this proved his point about freedom of speech. Completely unrelated, RÚV premiered a new documentary series titled Hate, which examines the rise of hate speech in Iceland and the backlash against minority groups in recent years;

On Saturday, protests took place across Iceland — in Reykjavík, Ísafjörður, Egilsstaðir, Akureyri, Stykkishólmur, Húsavík, and Hólmavík — condemning genocide. Around 185 organisations supported the protest. Former MP and Foreign Minister Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir spoke at the Reykjavík rally, suggesting that Iceland withdraw from the EFTA free trade agreement with Israel. Following this, current Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir announced that the Icelandic government would discuss the issue this Monday.