By Martin Armstrong
Brussels simply went too far. They crossed the line after moving from an economic union to a political subordinate of Europe. Now, six more countries want to hold referendums to exit the EU; France, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Finland, and Hungary all could leave. With Hollande’s approval rating at about 11%, Merkel is lucky she is not tarred & feathered. Front National leader Marine Le Pen has pledged to hold a French referendum. If she emerges victorious in next year’s presidential elections, that means the next major player in the EU after Germany is out and there goes the EU.
This entire civil uprising in Europe has been underway ever since two months ago when Dutch voters overwhelmingly rejected a Ukraine-European Union treaty. Angela Merkel’s Germany now faces having to pay an extra 3 billion euros a year to the annual EU budget once Britain leaves. This alone is prompting German government officials to propose that Britain is offered “constructive exit negotiations” to keep their dues coming in. Some are now talking about a quasi-membership for the UK calling it an “associated partner country” to keep the money flowing.
Yet, the French government of Hollande just does not understand. The governor of the French central bank will exert pressure on UK banks. They are taking the view that it would be paradoxical if Britain could retain privileges after the withdrawal from the EU. First Banks are apparently preparing to shift part of its employees in London to the continent. They obviously fail to grasp that European continental banks, not the British banks, are on the brink of collapse.
Italian ministers warned on Saturday that the European Union MUST change course or risk total collapse after Britain’s vote to leave the bloc. Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said, “A double reaction to Brexit is under way, one financial, one political. The financial one, at least until now, is limited. I am more worried about the political one.” Indeed, the unthinkable is happening — and they worry the pound might crash? Pay attention to the euro.
Meanwhile, another critic of the EU has been the leader of Poland’s ruling party. Poland’s Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski also responded and said that the UK referendum result shows the need for reform in the EU. “This is bad news for Europe, for Poland… This is a great dilemma for the eurocrats, we all want to keep the EU, the question is in what shape.” He continued, “We will be trying to use this situation to make the European politicians aware why this happened. And it happened because this concept, which was created some time ago, is no longer popular in Europe.”
Then again, the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán intends to campaign in the British press for the UK to remain in the EU, according to a Hungarian government spokesman. Orbán is clearly out of touch with the people and fails to understand that a federalized Europe is not going down very well. He is extremely arrogant to think that he has any right to intervene or suggest that the vote be ignored.
To add insult to injury, Turkey proclaims the “Crusader union falls apart,” demonstrating that memories in Europe go back centuries. The people of the United States did not want to enter World War II. Roosevelt even traveled to Boston, promising that American boys would never defend Europe. Boston was a very Irish community and they were upset that they were asked to defend Britain after their migration to the USA because of Britain. Old wounds never quite die.
