Brexit is irreversible
Angela Merkel has said there is no way to reverse the UK's decision to vote for Brexit, calling it “wishful thinking” to suggest there is any way Britain can stay in the EU.
The German Chancellor was speaking ahead of the second day of an EU summit, which went on without David Cameron yesterday.
Merkel held what will be her last ever meeting with the UK Prime Minister at a Brussels summit on Tuesday, but insisted it was not a time for either sadness or anger.
Describing the talks as “serious” but “friendly”, she called on the rest of Europe to take the opportunity in the coming days to move on with the situation it finds itself in.
Asked if she saw any possibility for Britain to U-turn on its EU decision, Merkel said: “I want to say very clearly tonight that I see no way to reverse this.
“We all need to look at the reality of the situation. It is not the hour for wishful thinking.”
Early indications suggest many EU leaders appear keen to get Brexit over and done with now the UK has decided to leave.
Meanwhile, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made a dash to Brussels yesterday to tell the EU that Scots were intent on staying in the bloc, hours after David Cameron told a summit that Britain was pulling out.
"This is very much an initial meeting, a series of meetings in Brussels today, so that people understand that Scotland, unlike other parts, of the United Kingdom does not want to leave the European Union," Sturgeon told reporters after meeting European Parliament President Martin Schulz.
Later in the day, the pro-independence Scottish leader will meet the head of the EU executive, European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, and may try to probe the -- hitherto flimsy -- options a breakaway Scotland might have to somehow remain in the European Union once the United Kingdom completes its Brexit.
Juncker's decision to roll out the red carpet for her on the day the 27 other EU leaders held their first meeting without Britain was seen by some diplomats as an attempt to pressure London to hand in its formal notice to quit.
But, acting Spanish Premier Mariano Rajoy yesterday said Madrid would oppose any separate talks with Scotland on its future in the EU in the wake of Brexit.
It is also understood European Council president Donald Tusk has no plans to meet Sturgeon because he does not consider it to be the right time.
There has been a surge in sympathy around Europe for the 5.5 million Scots after nearly two-thirds of them voted in last week's UK referendum to stay in the EU, only to see the English, ten times more numerous, vote 52-48 percent for Brexit.
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