If Britain leaves the European Union (EU), Germany may not be far behind, the head of the Berlin Stock Exchange has admitted.
Artur Fischer said that the EU is a “thin layer of civilisation” that could be irreparably damaged if Britain votes to leave this month, and if Britain goes there will be a “temptation” for the German people to follow suit.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Fischer said: “Being nationalistic is not a good thing. So if the value of the EU is damaged – and it is already fragile – and if Great Britain is out, the temptation is the German population will also consider ‘what are the benefits? Why don’t we do things on our own?'”
He went on to claim that European “civilisation” would be under threat in the event of Brexit.
“It gives you a very eerie feeling, how thin that layer of civilisation is. If you do things together with other countries in the EU it gives us a chance to come to a compromise. If we are not in the EU we will not look to compromise, but to win.”
Mr Fischer becomes the latest in an increasing number of officials to acknowledge that the European Union is in a perilous state and that thanks to the rise of populism and Euroscepticism the dream of a united super state has never seemed further away.
Breitbart London reported this morning that former French Foreign Secretary Hubert Védrine, one of the key architects of European integration, has admitted that there is no popular consent for a united Europe.
“In most countries today you have 15 to 20 percent of voters who reject Europe altogether, and another 15 to 20 percent that remain die-hard Europhiles,” Mr Védrine said. “That leaves at least 60 percent in the middle who are what I’d call euro-allergic.”
European Council President Donald Tusk has also admitted the “utopia” of a United States of Europe is now impossible.
“Disillusioned with the great visions of the future, [the European people] demand that we cope with the present reality better than we have been doing until now,” he said.
“Today, Euroscepticism, or even Euro-pessimism have become an alternative to those illusions.”
“The spectre of a breakup is haunting Europe and a vision of a federation doesn’t seem to me like the best answer to it,” he added.