USA president Barack Obama has sought to play down concerns about the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, saying that Britain could end up with a similar arrangement to the one that Norway has with the EU.
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The summit, starting mid-afternoon, takes place amid deep anger among the 27 other European leaders over Cameron’s decision firstly to call the ‘Brexit’ referendum – and secondly his handling of the campaign itself.
“These countries are our neighbors, our friends, our allies, our partners”.
“I very much hope we’ll seek the closest possible relationship in terms of trade and cooperation and security, because that is good for us and that is good for them”.
US officials have said the American economy is strong enough to withstand the “headwinds” following Brexit and vowed to maintain its relationships with the United Kingdom and Europe. As an emergency EU summit got under way in the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday, Jean-Claude Juncker said: “No notification, no negotiation”.
Lawmakers paid tribute to Britain’s European Union commissioner in Brussels, Jonathan Hill, who resigned after last week’s vote.
The resolution, though symbolic, reflects mounting concern among European Union lawmakers and leaders that Britain could delay the formal legal process for leaving and prolong uncertainty about the future direction of the bloc and destabilize the wider economy.
In an address to the German parliament before heading to Brussels, Merkel said she expected that Britain would want to maintain “close relations” with the European Union once it left – but warned it could not expect a business-as-usual approach.
European Union lawmakers have made clear they hope he will trigger the exit process at the dinner, but an European Union official said on Monday that was unrealistic given the political chaos in London, where both Cameron’s party and opposition Labour are deeply divided.
In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Cameron could not “cherry-pick” in the exit negotiations – and there would be a price for Britain to pay.
Brexit creates huge political uncertainty and will put pressure on global growth, the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Deputy Managing Director Zhu Min said on Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Tianjin in northern China.
Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, faced a vote of no confidence Tuesday after a revolt by party members who accused him of failing to adequately back “remain”.
‘We must respect British democracy and the way it has expressed its view, ‘ he said to rare applause from the UKIP members.
“To some extent I am really surprised that you are here”, Juncker added. The British people voted in favor of the exit.
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Juncker wants talks on United Kingdom exit to begin immediately, saying: “It’s not an amicable divorce, but it was not exactly an intimate affair anyway”.
