US President Barack Obama said on Saturday he expected Britain to go through with leaving the European Union after last month’s referendum and was concerned to limit the damage to the British, European and global economies from the move.
As a friend, ally and trading partner of Britain and of the EU, Barack Obama said Washington wanted to see an orderly negotiating process and as close a relationship as possible in future.
“It’s important that neither side harden positions in ways that ultimately do damage to their respective economies and ultimately to the world economy at a time when our world economy is still pretty wobbly in places,” Obama told a news conference at the end of a NATO summit in Warsaw.
Obama says must assume Brexit ‘is going to stick’
US President Barack Obama today said he believed that Britain would quit the European Union after the Brexit referendum despite speculation the vote could somehow be reversed.
“I think we have to assume that a referendum having been passed with a lot of attention, a lengthy campaign and relatively high participation rates is going to stick,” Obama said when asked if Britain could go back on the vote.
The Brexit vote shocked Britain’s allies, with Obama having strongly backed the remain camp ahead of last month’s referendum, citing the possible impact on Britain’s key role in world affairs as a major concern.
“We will remain close friends, allies, partners, continue to have strong relationships on both sides of the channel,” Obama said at the close of a NATO summit in Warsaw, the last of his presidency.
“Our primary interest is to make sure that the negotiations and this process are as orderly and as sensible as possible.”
On Friday, Obama insisted that Brexit would not undermine Britain’s role in NATO but urged London and Brussels to avoid “protracted, adversarial negotiations” over their divorce.
“How the negotiations work, I think is going to be up to the parties involved,” the president said Saturday.