For years a
pole of attraction for numerous states from outside the community area, which
it eventually integrated following successive stages of enlargement, the
European Union seems to have exhausted most of its seductive power. The Turks
are increasingly irritated by having to wait for decades before being allowed
to join the EU, while the Swiss have just withdrawn their accession
application. To make things even more complicated, for the first time in
history one of the EU’s established members has decided to hold a referendum on
whether to leave or stay in the EU. According to the latest polls on voters’
intentions, pro-Europeans
have a three to seven-point lead. Reputed political analysts also believe
Britons will decide to further stay in the EU. Radio Romania’s correspondent in
London has quoted one such analyst, who insists on the fragmentation of the
British society.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit analyst Joan
Hoey, the result of the referendum will be decided by the vote in England and
Wales, the two provinces that support the UK’s leaving the European Union,
while Scotland and Northern Ireland are firmly in favor of the country’s
preserving its EU membership. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has
warned Britons about the fact that their decision is irreversible. Hammond
said, quote, The
message we are trying to get across to the British people is that this is an
irreversible decision – if they decide to leave, there will be no going back.
It is in their interest to stay, unquote. Just like everywhere in Europe, the
British referendum is a hot topic in Romania as well. President Klaus Iohannis
believes that the EU is stronger with Britain being part of it, and that
Britain also needs the EU. The Romanian
President is optimistic about the result. In turn, Romanian Senate President,
Calin Popescu Tariceanu is also supporting the idea of Britain remaining in the
EU, given its status as an economic, democratic and military power. In his opinion, the economic partnership
between Romania and Britain will not be affected, irrespective of the result of
the referendum. Tariceanu believes, however, that the Bucharest government
should urgently assess the impact of a possible Brexit on the Romanians working
in Britain.
In turn, in
remarks 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
know that for a fact, of almost all Europeans and European leaders: Stay with
us. We need you. Tusk insisted on Britain’s important geopolitical
role, without which, in his opinion, not only
Europe, but the whole transatlantic community will become weaker. Whatever the result of the referendum is going to
be, we must take a long, hard look at
the future of the Union, Tusk said. The European Council President went on to say that that
it would be foolish to ignore a warning signal such as the UK referendum,
referring to growing Euroscepticism not only in Britain but also in other EU
member states.