Angela Merkel warned on Friday that Britain’s eventual departure from the European Union will have a significant impact on its future.
“Brexit is a turning point in the history of European integration,” Merkel said at a joint news conference with leaders from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary in Warsaw where she was discussing the EU without Britain.
“It’s important that we come up with an appropriate response,” Merkel said.
“Citizens will only accept the EU if it makes it possible for them to prosper — we need to do a lot more,” the chancellor said, according to her spokesman Steffen Seibert.
She was in the Polish capital to talk to leaders of the so-called Visegrád countries on issues such as migration, security, economy and trade ahead of the EU summit in Bratislava next month to which Britain has not been invited following the June 23 referendum to leave.
The leaders of the 27 remaining countries will meet in a summit in the Slovak capital on September 16.
Kanzlerin #Merkel: Menschen werden die EU nur akzeptieren, wenn es ein Wohlstandsversprechen gibt – da haben wir viel zu tun.
— Steffen Seibert (@RegSprecher) August 26, 2016