Britain faced a historic break-up threat, too, as Scotland refused to be willingly dragged out of the 28-nation European Union when more than 60 percent of its people voted to stay in. Talks should start “immediately”, he said.
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“It is not an amicable divorce but it was also not an intimate love affair”, he said.
European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis will take over the EU’s financial services portfolio, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in a statement on Saturday following the resignation of Britain’s Jonathan Hill.
In a statement following the meeting, the foreign ministers of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands said they “expect the United Kingdom government to provide clarity and give effect to this decision as soon as possible”.
European Parliament President Martin Schulz, also speaking to ARD, called Cameron’s decision to possibly wait until October to leave “scandalous”, saying that he was “taking the whole (European) continent hostage”.
“But what is done can not be undone and now we have to get on with making our new relationship with Europe work as well as possible”, Hill said.
The result of the referendum – which saw more than 30 million people turn out to vote – saw British bank shares lose almost a third of their value before rallying on Friday afternoon.
At one point, the website crashed after being unable to deal with the surge of traffic.
The petition calls for a new rule to be implemented and stipulates that polls on the European Union with a majority under 60% and turnout under 75% must be restarted.
The UK has had its credit rating outlook downgraded to “negative” by the ratings agency Moody’s after the country voted to leave the EU.
His most likely successor, Boris Johnson, said yesterday that there need not be any “haste” in negotiating the terms of Britain’s departure, but Brussels has issued a distinctly different message, warning that Brexit should be instigated as soon as possible to avoid prolonged uncertainty that could be damaging to markets and economic growth.
And this is just the beginning.
The UK commissioner would remain in place until the UK’s departure from the European Union, two years after the triggering of the Article 50 notice that the country intends quitting the bloc.
“It is completely clear that we now have a situation that allows for neither hysteria nor paralysis”, Steinmeier told reporters. “But after the British decision, we mustn’t lapse into depression and inactivity”.
With frustrations mounting at Britain’s seeming reluctance to begin divorce proceedings, German’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, has called for calm, clear-headed and businesslike discussions while other European capitals, EU leaders and her own government have demanded the UK’s rapid departure.
“I trust the fact that these talks will take place in a positive and pragmatic way”, he said.
Ban said he is counting on both sides to maintain their partnerships with the United Nations on development and humanitarian issues.
“I am anxious, really sick for my children’s prospects”, said Lindsey Brett, a 57-year-old secretarial worker in central London.
Meanwhile, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will meet her Cabinet on Saturday to discuss the country’s next move.
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In Germany, its finance ministry has drawn up documents detailing how it plans to negotiate Britain’s exit from the European Union, according to a report in Handelsblatt newspaper.
