Brexit felt like a humiliation and a disgrace for the EU, according to the bloc’s longest-serving leader.
Angela Merkel, the former German chancellor, was the head of the union when the UK voted to leave. In her memoir, published this week, she wrote that the EU was weakened by the move.
“To me, the result felt like a humiliation, a disgrace for us, the other members of the European Union – the United Kingdom was leaving us in the lurch,” Mrs Merkel said.
“This changed the European Union (EU) in the view of the world; we were weakened.”
She added: “I regarded the United Kingdom as an indispensable part of the peace project of European unity, which had been born of two catastrophic world wars. The former British prime minister, Winston Churchill, had made a significant contribution to the project’s creation in a speech on Sept 19, 1946, in Zurich.
“His country was a veto power in the UN Security Council; cosmopolitan and competitive through the Commonwealth and as a former seafaring nation; and it supported multilateral co-operation. The UK’s economic strength made the European single market stronger.
“We could have much more impact worldwide with democratic convictions together than separately, of that I was convinced. Even though the British frequently played a special role, I would much rather have continued working with them within the European Union than lose them as a member.”
She claimed she had helped David Cameron, the former British prime minister, during negotiations for the EU’s financial perspective for 2014 to 2020 and that her support for him had an impact on her relationship with other EU leaders.
She wrote: “After the referendum, I was tormented by whether I should have made even more concessions towards the UK to make it possible for them to remain in the community.
“I came to the conclusion that, in the face of the political developments taking place at the time within the country, there wouldn’t have been any reasonable way of preventing the UK’s path out of the EU as an outsider.
“Even with the best political will, mistakes of the past could not be undone – this was a bitter lesson.
“And so all that remained for me was the hope that the UK and the EU would maintain a sense of mutual appreciation, and that when it came to important matters, they would find ways and means of engaging in dialogue that led to harmonious agreement.”
Mrs Merkel left office after 16 years in 2021, handing power to Olaf Scholz.
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