EU chief: Brexit would change Europe forever for the worse

BRUSSELS – Highlighting the European Union’s love-hate relationship with Britain, major groups in the EU legislature on Wednesday urged Britons to vote to remain in the EU but chided their prime minister for hijacking the bloc with a local “glorified cockfight” that could fundamentally undermine its unity.

EU President Donald Tusk insisted that an “out” vote in the June 23 British referendum on EU membership would “change Europe forever. And it will be a change for the worse.”

His comments were echoed by many legislators from across the 28-nation bloc as they assessed one of the biggest votes in the 58-year-history of the EU.

Tusk oversaw the EU reform deal that British Prime Minister David Cameron brokered with the other 27 EU leaders last weekend, which defined a new relationship for Britain in the bloc. With all the challenges facing the West now, it was not the time for Britain to split away from the bloc, Tusk declared.

Many legislators criticized Britain for forcing Europeans to focus on what they saw as a one-nation debate while the continent was struggling with more fundamental issues like a massive migration crisis.

EPP Christian Democrat leader Manfred Weber listed some of the top problems facing the bloc, citing everything from the wars in Syria and Ukraine to high unemployment in the EU and the bloc’s tense relations with Vladimir Putin’s Russian government.

“Despite all these difficulties, the welfare benefits for migrants and the problems of the City of London were the top priorities” at an EU summit last week, Weber said. “Is this the right priority?”

“What I am seeing is a glorified cockfight,” said ALDE Liberal leader Guy Verhofstadt, claiming that Britain is disregarding the common European good to focus on domestic concerns.

Continental nations like Britain for its military clout, diplomatic prowess and powerful economy.

But Britain’s lack of commitment to Europe has remained a sore point to this day.

“May I give also an advice: Don’t think that after a ‘no’ you can come back,” Verhofstadt said, despite expressing a wish for Britain not to leave in the first place.