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Exit quickly: EU to Britain

Founding nations say divorce may not be amicable
Last Updated 25 June 2016, 20:34 IST

EU leaders pressured Britain on Saturday to make a quick exit from the union, warning they could not afford to be left in “limbo”. They also stressed the divorce would not be “amicable”.

Foreign ministers of the European Union’s founding member states, gathering in Berlin for crisis talks after Britain’s shock referendum outcome, said London must begin the process of leaving “as soon as possible”.

France’s Jean-Marc Ayrault went as far as to call for David Cameron, who has said he would resign by October, to make way for a new British prime minister to manage the transition out of the union.

As the EU grappled with the first defection in its six-decade history, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker warned London against foot-dragging now that it had made its choice.

He admitted the EU had hoped Britain would stay, but now it wanted the separation process as speedy and painless as possible. “It is not an amicable divorce, but it was also not an intimate love affair,” he said.

European Parliament president Martin Schulz called Cameron’s decision to possibly wait until October to leave “scandalous”, saying he was “taking the whole (European) continent hostage”.

It will fall onto Cameron’s successor to lead the complex negotiations under Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, which sets a two-year timeframe to leave. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, hosting his counterparts from the five other original EU states, said they agreed that London must begin the exit process immediately. 

“We join together in saying that this process must begin as soon as possible so we don’t end up in an extended limbo period, but rather can focus on the future of Europe and the work towards it,” he said.

Scotland seeks immediate EU talks

Scotland wants immediate talks with the European Union on protecting its place in the bloc, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Saturday, reports AFP from Edinburgh.”

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(Published 25 June 2016, 20:34 IST)

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