“Great Britain would no longer be raising its hand in the U.N. Security Council for 500 million Europeans but just for 64 million Britons”, she said.
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Fico said that “if a team is trailing 0-3 in the 90th minute, I can only hardly believe that this result will be reversed and we will eventually win 4-3”.
A British vote to leave the European Union would shake the bloc and require a concerted effort to ensure its stability, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Wednesday. “Then we would have to assure each other mutually that the European Union will continue to stick together and this decades-long successful integration process will not turn into a disintegration in the end”, he said.
Speaking at a joint press conference with French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault ahead of the June 23 referendum, he added: “We can both say that we want the majority in Britain to make the right decision, and the right decision from our point of view can only be to remain in Europe”.
On security, von der Leyen said she expected Europe’s influence to drop if Britain were to leave, because there would only be one vote for Europe on the United Nations security council.
He added, however, that he didn’t think the European Union will be “in danger of death” if Britain goes. Ayrault promised Eurosceptics that the bloc would keep evolving with the times.
“With all due respect: may the British make their decision – Europe will survive whichever way the decision goes”, Schaeuble said.
If Britain stays, Cameron could negotiate a “new settlement” in “less than one year”, he said.
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In such a case, the Bank of England would face the dilemma of whether to raise interest rates to lower inflation – but hurt the economy – or leave them low, exposing the country to a rise in prices.
