BERLIN (AP) – Britain’s decision to leave the European Union puts German Chancellor Angela Merkel at center stage as the bloc seeks to preserve its unity and win back skeptical voters across the continent.
Merkel stressed that “Germany has a special interest and a special responsibility in European unity succeeding” as she voiced regret Friday at Britain’s departure, citing Europe’s 20th century history of wars. She signaled that she was taking the initiative, inviting her counterparts from France and Italy – the two other largest remaining members – to meet her Monday in Berlin as well as EU President Donald Tusk.
But, true to a methodical approach to problems tried and tested over a decade in power, she also sought to slam the brakes on any hasty decisions, arguing that the 27 remaining members must avoid drawing “quick and simple conclusions” that would only create further divisions.
Germany traditionally has been reluctant to exert an overt leadership role in Europe, though it has been increasingly assertive in recent years in designing the response to the eurozone’s debt troubles and, less conclusively, in seeking an EU-wide response to the influx of refugees and other migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere.
Even now, with one of the EU’s heavyweights on the way out, Berlin isn’t likely to seek a sole leadership role, ever conscious of the historical burden of its Nazi past.