President Barack Obama said Friday that the U.S. respects the decision of U.K. voters to leave the European Union, and that the “special relationship” between the countries would endure.<\/p>\n
“The United Kingdom and the European Union will remain indispensable partners of the United States even as they begin negotiating their ongoing relationship to ensure continued stability, security, and prosperity for Europe, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the world,” Obama said in a statement less than 10 minutes before U.S. markets open.<\/p>\n
In deciding to quit the European Union, British voters spurned Obama\u2019s plea to stay and put new strains on their nation\u2019s \u201cspecial relationship\u201d with the U.S. on issues from trade to defense.<\/p>\n
\u201cObama, with his great status in Europe — if he couldn\u2019t sway it, it\u2019s an indication things have changed,\u201d said Conor McCann, a Dublin-based political affairs analyst with Massif Global.<\/p>\n
The American president, who remains more popular in Europe than at home, drew praise for helping and criticism for meddling when he traveled to London in April to help Prime Minister David Cameron — who said he will step down — in his campaign for a vote to stay. Obama said then that he hoped \u201cthe ties that bind Europe together are ultimately much stronger than the forces that are trying to pull it apart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Obama was briefed on the U.K. returns and was expected to speak to Cameron in the coming day, according to a White House statement.<\/p>\n
Now that British voters have rejected Obama\u2019s arguments, it will fall largely to his successor to cope with the results because it\u2019s expected to take two years for the U.K. to extricate itself from the EU.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing happens the next day other than a lot of confusion and market volatility,\u201d said Heather Conley, director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. She predicted that many an emergency meeting would be convened on Friday by government and business leaders in the U.S. and the U.K.<\/p>\n
Many Contingencies<\/strong><\/p>\n White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said this week that the U.S. was planning for steps it would take under a British exit, or Brexit, just as it prepares for many contingencies.<\/p>\n The referendum results won\u2019t end what\u2019s long been called the \u201cspecial relationship\u201d between the U.S. and the U.K. But the British may no longer have as much influence in shaping European policies, from the future direction of the economic bloc that is America\u2019s largest trading partner\u00a0to military affairs.<\/p>\n The decision will have a direct impact on the U.S. because of American reliance on the U.K. for security and trade matters across Europe, said Mary Nugent, who teaches U.K. politics at Rutgers University in New Jersey, where she is a doctoral candidate.<\/p>\n \u201cThe political alliance the U.K. has with the U.S. is really important,\u201d said Nugent, who previously worked for a Labour Party member of the British parliament. \u201cThe fact that the U.K. is no longer going to be at the table in the European Union is going to be a big blow to U.S. diplomacy and trade negotiation.\u201d<\/p>\n Obama raised the risks of declining British influence in sharp terms during his London visit. He warned that the U.K. would fall to the \u201cback of the queue\u201d for future U.S. trade deals and said \u201cif you start seeing divisions in Europe, that weakens NATO. That\u2019ll have an impact on our collective security.\u201d<\/p>\n Those dire predictions had little impact on the referendum results.<\/p>\n \u2018Egg on His Face\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cPresident Obama clearly has egg on his face,\u201d said Nile Gardiner, director of the Heritage Foundation\u2019s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom.<\/p>\n Cameron on Friday said he will leave office by October, and Obama is unlikely to have as close a relationship with his successor — especially if it\u2019s Boris Johnson. The voluble former London mayor, who was a leading campaigner for the Brexit, said Obama\u2019s intervention on the other side may stem from an \u201cancestral dislike of the British empire\u201d because of his Kenyan roots. The remarks were widely condemned in the U.K.<\/p>\n Now, the U.S. will begin the long process of adjusting to the new British reality, including the fallout for business and finance.<\/p>\n That will include an assessment of what the referendum results mean for U.S. financial services companies that conduct euro-denominated business in London, McCann said. If it\u2019s determined they should move to another European financial hub, such as Frankfurt or Dublin, the effect would be disruptive, he said.<\/p>\n Financial Regulations<\/strong><\/p>\n The change could be positive for U.S. businesses because it could free those operating in the City, London\u2019s financial center, from EU financial regulations, Gardiner said in an interview from London.<\/p>\n \u201cBrexit actually makes it easier for U.S. companies to operate because I think that EU financial regulations are job-killers and make it much harder to do what you need to do to advance prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Source: Bloomberg<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President Barack Obama said Friday that the U.S. respects the decision of U.K. voters to leave the European Union, and that the “special relationship” between the countries would endure. “The United Kingdom and the European Union will remain indispensable partners of the United States even as they begin negotiating their ongoing relationship to ensure continued […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":208738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n