'Damn': EU referendum result shocks world leaders as Britain backs Brexit

Shock: Francois Hollande has called an emergency meeting of ministers
EPA/Francois Mori
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World leaders reacted with shock and disbelief today as they struggled to digest the implications of the Brexit vote.

A sense of doom enveloped Brussels after the EU capital awoke to the news that Britain had dealt a huge body blow to the European project.

There were predictions that Brexit could spark a continent-wide revolt, trigger similar votes elsewhere and even break up the EU.

Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, called it a “historic moment, but not a moment for hysterical reactions”, and proposed that the 27 other EU member states “start a wider reflection on the future of our union”.

Brexit: European Council President Donald Tusk briefs the media after the referendum result

Elsewhere, the reaction was more dramatic with politicians and analysts urging the EU and its institutions to listen to the voices of its citizens and warning of tumultuous times ahead.

Gerard Araud, the French ambassador to Washington, tweeted: “Now to the other member states to save the EU from unravelling which excludes business as usual, especially in Brussels. Reform or die!”

Some of the most stark illustrations of the dismay felt in world capitals came from Germany, where Gabriel Sigmar, deputy to Chancellor Angela Merkel, responded with a single word tweet: “Damn.”

Germany’s foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier described news of the Brexit vote as “truly sobering” and “a sad day for Europe and the United Kingdom”.

Leave wins EU referendum - in pictures

1/23

The leader of the country’s Green party Cem Özdemir added: “A terrible day for Europe. Cameron’s attempt to win a populist referendum has gone completely belly-up.”

German tabloid Bild, which had promised to acknowledge England’s controversial goal in the 1966 World Cup final if Britain voted to stay, simply put the word “Out!” in British colours on its front page.

In France, President François Hollande called an emergency meeting of his ministers, while Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Front, hailed the vote as a clear indication that the 28-nation EU bloc was “decaying”.

She called for the French people to be given a vote on leaving and added: “Victory for freedom! As I have been asking for years, now we need to have the same referendum in France and in the countries of the EU.”

Marion Marechal Le Pen, another member of the French far-Right political dynasty, said: “From #Brexit to #Frexit: It’s now time to import democracy to our country.”

Germany’s influential Spiegel magazine, which two weeks ago took the extraordinary decision to devote an issue in English begging Britain to stay, said the out vote was a “big bang” and added: “The unimaginable has happened.”

Populist parties in other nations also reacted quickly to the news, with Geert Wilders of the Dutch anti-Islam and Eurosceptic Party for Freedom calling for their own referendum.

“We want to be in charge of our own country, our own money, our own borders, and our own immigration policy,” he said.

“If I become prime minister, there will be a referendum in the Netherlands on leaving the European Union as well. Let the Dutch people decide.”

Latvia’s foreign minister Edgars Rinkevics said that Britain was now entering a hard negotiating period on the terms of its exit, which could drag on for years. “Difficult divorce process expected, [this is] a wake up call for Europeans in Europe,” he tweeted.

The Irish government also convened a ministerial meeting to discuss an outcome that it said would have “very significant implications” for Ireland.

Further afield, Malcolm Turnbull, the Australian premier, said: “The impact on Australia immediately, directly, from a legal point of view, will be very limited because it will take some years for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, to negotiate an exit.

"However, we’ve seen already large falls on stock markets and there will be a degree of uncertainty for some time.”

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