BRUSSELS (AP) – European Union leaders were reeling Friday after Britain’s shock vote to leave the bloc plunged the EU into deep uncertainty, not least over how to negotiate the unprecedented departure of a member state.
Top EU officials tried to put on a brave face as the European enterprise – already wracked by economic woes, Greece’s shaky future in the euro and Europe’s inability to manage the refugee emergency – came face to face with yet another existential challenge.
“We are determined to keep our unity at 27,” EU Council President Donald Tusk told reporters, after the results of the referendum were announced. But, he conceded, “there’s no way of predicting all the political consequences of this event.”
Tusk said that EU leaders will meet without British Prime Minister David Cameron next week on the sidelines of a summit in Brussels “to start a wider reflection on the future of our Union.”
While he admitted that the last year has been one of the toughest in EU history, Tusk said: “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.”