Today it was announced about the results of the referendum in the UK on its exit from the European Union (52% of the participants expressed the hope to leave the EU). The European Party of Ukraine believes that the consequences of the referendum should be implemented and Britain should leave the European Union in accordance with the procedure prescribed in the Lisbon Treaty.
The result of this process will be the recession, the loss of the European markets, and devaluation of the currency. Speculating on the employment issue, cheap labor at the expense of emigrant workers, populists that actually influenced the results of the referendum, will fail in the next five years.
For the European Union the results of the referendum will start a centrifugal process, namely the principle of “domino” that will be used by populists, nationalists and other EU member states, who will also try to leave the EU. And now the main task of the European officials is to change the principles and approaches of decision making. For example, implementation of the European Parliament decisions by the EC is bound now, in contrast to what had been before.
The impetus for such referendum was certainly the war, started by Russia, in Syria and the millions of refugees. The European Union has shown its unwillingness to develop qualitatively new geopolitical position on the rights and freedoms, when all is permitted. That was the main reason of the Brexit. But we should not be afraid that for the past 25 years of the European Union existence a one member decided to leave. Certainly Russia will celebrate on this occasion.
A multi-million dollar market of the European Union is a precondition of the appearance, before the referendum and after him, of populists, who will make bold statements about an alternative to the European standards of living and development. But they are all false. There can be no alternatives to the European values. The European Union should be more pragmatic. The priority for them should be the economy, the labor market, energy and ecology. They should less intervene in the matter of personal freedoms and impose it to the countries that are seeking to be members of the European Union.
In this situation, Ukraine, which signed the Association Agreement must change approaches to diplomacy and today put specific requirements of the European Union. Authorities must insist on the implementation of a visa free regime, because de jure all conditions are satisfied. Ukraine should also state that, in the case, if the Netherlands refuses to be a member of the EU, Ukraine will be ready to take its place and to ensure the EU market with its agricultural products. And this is just one of many examples.
The European Party of Ukraine considers that the referendum in the UK is a victory of populists. We believe that the European Union make conclusions about the values that are worth fighting for, and recognize that the main enemy is not only an external aggression, but also internal populists, who used to give easy answers to complex problems. There is no alternative to European values, such as a fair trial, non-corrupt government, high paying jobs, quality education, healthcare and pensions. And the application about the inappropriate entry of Ukraine into the European Union because of a Brexit referendum – is just a manipulation.
The leader of the European Party of Ukraine Mykola Katerynchuk