For years a
\npole of attraction for numerous states from outside the community area, which
\nit eventually integrated following successive stages of enlargement, the
\nEuropean Union seems to have exhausted most of its seductive power. The Turks
\nare increasingly irritated by having to wait for decades before being allowed
\nto join the EU, while the Swiss have just withdrawn their accession
\napplication. To make things even more complicated, for the first time in
\nhistory one of the EU’s established members has decided to hold a referendum on
\nwhether to leave or stay in the EU. According to the latest polls on voters’
\nintentions, pro-Europeans
\nhave a three to seven-point lead. Reputed political analysts also believe
\nBritons will decide to further stay in the EU. Radio Romania’s correspondent in
\nLondon has quoted one such analyst, who insists on the fragmentation of the
\nBritish society. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit analyst Joan
\nHoey, the result of the referendum will be decided by the vote in England and
\nWales, the two provinces that support the UK’s leaving the European Union,
\nwhile Scotland and Northern Ireland are firmly in favor of the country’s
\npreserving its EU membership. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has
\nwarned Britons about the fact that their decision is irreversible. Hammond
\nsaid, quote, The
\nmessage we are trying to get across to the British people is that this is an
\nirreversible decision – if they decide to leave, there will be no going back.
\nIt is in their interest to stay, unquote. Just like everywhere in Europe, the
\nBritish referendum is a hot topic in Romania as well. President Klaus Iohannis
\nbelieves that the EU is stronger with Britain being part of it, and that
\nBritain also needs the EU. The Romanian
\nPresident is optimistic about the result. In turn, Romanian Senate President,
\nCalin Popescu Tariceanu is also supporting the idea of Britain remaining in the
\nEU, given its status as an economic, democratic and military power. In his opinion, the economic partnership
\nbetween Romania and Britain will not be affected, irrespective of the result of
\nthe referendum. Tariceanu believes, however, that the Bucharest government
\nshould urgently assess the impact of a possible Brexit on the Romanians working
\nin Britain.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In turn, in
\nremarks posted on the European Council website, the European Council President, Donald Tusk, said, I would like to appeal to the British citizens, on behalf, I
\nknow that for a fact, of almost all Europeans and European leaders: Stay with
\nus. We need you. Tusk insisted on Britain’s important geopolitical
\nrole, without which, in his opinion, not only
\nEurope, but the whole transatlantic community will become weaker. Whatever the result of the referendum is going to
\nbe, we must take a long, hard look at
\nthe future of the Union, Tusk said. The European Council President went on to say that that
\nit would be foolish to ignore a warning signal such as the UK referendum,
\nreferring to growing Euroscepticism not only in Britain but also in other EU
\nmember states. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Britain’s referendum on whether to remain or not a member of the European Union has hit the headlines worldwide in the past few weeks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":69038,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[14005,29932,38531,38530],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-69037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-brexit","tag-donald-tusk","tag-leave-and-remain-sides","tag-vote-in-the-uk"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n