The Icelandic people voted an overwhelmingly “No” to their country’s deal with Britain and the Netherlands to repay its debts.

A new resolution has been proposed recently to Iceland by the other two European countries that improved the repayment terms compared to the one that has just been voted on.

The votes showed that 93 percent of the Icelandic population rejected the proposal while only 2 percent supported it. The remaining ballots were either invalid or blank.

Iceland must now confer again with the British and Dutch officials to come up with a better deal as soon as possible. The longer it takes to resolve the issue, the harder it is for Iceland to recover.

According to Foreign Minister Ossur Skarphethinsson, Britain and the Netherlands have already indicated that they would be willing to go into talks again.

Iceland became a symbol of the global recession when its economy collapsed a year and a half ago. Now the country badly needs help from the international community.

The problem, however, is that its neighboring Nordic countries and the International Monetary Fund have halted financial aid to Iceland until it is able to resolve the Icesave issue.

The debts started when the leading banks in Iceland fell one after the other in 2008. One of the banks that suffered was Landsbanki, owner of Icesave online bank.

During its run, Icesave attracted about 400,000 depositors from Britain and the Netherlands. When the bank collapsed, the British and the Dutch governments were forced to pay Icesave depositors from their countries from their own pockets.

Now the two countries are asking for payment. A resolution was passed by the parliament in January but Iceland’s President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson refused to sign it. Instead, he asked the Icelanders to cast a vote on it.

Although Britain and the Netherlands had already softened terms for the repayment of debts, the Netherlands managed to drag the Icesave issue to Iceland’s acceptance to the European Union. As a result, more than half of Icelanders now are opposed to Iceland’s accession to the EU.

The voters’ turnout was unexpectedly high considering the freezing temperature and strong winds. Protesters also gathered to call for the government to help its own citizens first before fulfilling foreign obligations