President: Everything should be done to avoid domino effect after Brexit
The British people's decision on leaving the European Union is a clear signal for EU leaders that they should maintain unity and do everything in their power to avoid a "domino effect", President Andrzej Duda said on Friday.
The British referendum result is sad news, President Duda told reporters in Krakow. "Such is the will of British society, expressed in a democratic way, and of course that will must absolutely be respected", he added. "It is also a clear signal for EU leaders that in this situation we have to maintain unity and cohesion. Secondly, everything possible must be done to avoid a domino effect, to avoid having the societies of further countries say that they do not want to be members of the European community", Andrzej Duda underlined.
"Now the European Union faces a major task: (deciding) what to do to avoid such situations in future, to make sure further countries do not decide to leave the EU", he said. "This referendum result is a challenge; it raises the great question of how to continue handling the matters of united Europe", the president also underlined. He added that one needed to consider why people in the UK had decided to leave the EU, whether it was not that "the EU imposes too much on member countries, that citizens have a sense of it not operating democratically, that too many decisions are made arbitrarily and ... there is not enough talking with the people".
"I am in no doubt that ... the British were, are and will be our friends. We belong to the same cultural circle and I am in no doubt that in this aspect ... we are always one Europe", Andrzej Duda also said. Poland will want to maintain the closest possible relations with Britain as regards economic, military and political cooperation, the Polish president underlined, adding that the referendum result would not change the fact that Britain and Poland shared historical ties. President Duda also said that Poland would hold talks with the British government on the situation of Poles living, working or studying in the UK.
"I am confident that the British government sees how much Poles contribute to the development of the British Isles, economically and socially. We will do everything to make sure their rights are not reduced", he said.
Source: PAP; president.pl