Founding Members of the European Union Hold Emergency Meeting

Following the announcement of the British people's vote to leave the European Union, the founding members of this union announced that on Saturday, July 5, they will hold an emergency meeting to discuss the future of the European Union. According to AFP, the foreign ministers of Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, and Luxembourg are set to convene a six-party meeting in Berlin titled 'Current Political Issues in Europe.' This Saturday's meeting is expected to be the first in a series of emergency sessions among these six countries to be held in the coming week. Jean-Marc Ayrault, the French foreign minister, told AFP that during these sessions, his country and Germany intend to present 'concrete solutions' to their counterparts to make the European Union 'more efficient.' On the other hand, Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, who described Britain's exit as a 'blow' to the European Union, announced her intention to host the leaders of France and Italy along with the President of the European Union in Berlin on Monday to prepare a 'reform plan' together. On Tuesday, European Union leaders will hold a two-day meeting focused on discussing the future of the union. Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, stated that the outcome of the British referendum poses a 'danger' of similar referendums in other countries of the union. According to the German news agency, he said, 'Populists usually do not miss any opportunity to create a stir and advance their anti-European policies.' A day before Mr. Juncker's comments, Geert Wilders, the leader of the 'PVV,' the anti-immigrant party in the Netherlands, welcomed the result of the British referendum and urged his country's officials to hold a similar referendum in the Netherlands. The result of the British referendum, released on Friday, shows that 51.9% of voters wanted the country to leave the European Union. Polls indicate that supporters of Britain's exit from the European Union include those who feel left behind by globalization and blame EU immigration laws for stagnant wages in the country. Statistics also show that supporters of Britain's exit are predominantly older voters, while younger and more educated voters favor remaining in the European Union. Following the announcement of the referendum results, the British currency, the pound, lost 10% of its value, reaching its lowest level in 31 years. The economic shock from the referendum results has also caused a $2.1 trillion loss in global stock markets by Friday, with reports indicating that investors are turning to the 'safer' gold market. Meanwhile, according to the Associated Press, tens of thousands of British citizens are currently signing petitions requesting a second referendum on leaving or staying in the European Union. The large number of these petitions, which has now exceeded 500,000, has caused the website of the UK House of Commons, which hosts the online version of the petition, to become inaccessible. Currently, there is no arrangement for a potential second referendum in the UK, but according to the Associated Press, experts say there are no legal barriers to such a scenario.