The leader of Germany’s main opposition party said Berlin and Brussels were partly to blame for Brexit because they were unwilling to offer the UK real concessions ahead of a crucial EU referendum in 2016, POLITICO reports.
In an interview with the Financial Times, German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz hinted that Germany’s former chancellor – his fellow Christian Democrat Angela Merkel, though he did not mention her by name – could have done more to help then British Prime Minister David Cameron win the vote. He said:
“I remember that David Cameron asked for changes to EU social policy and came back to London empty-handed.”
Merz added that “the continental Europeans were not entirely blameless when it came to Brexit.” He also said:
“We lost patience with the special role that Britain always played in European politics. We didn’t do enough to help them come to a different referendum result.”
In January 2020, the UK left the EU after a contentious referendum in June 2016, which the Leave campaign won by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent.
Merz, whose centre-right CDU party ranks high in opinion polls, has said he wants closer ties between the UK and the EU. He said:
“We have a plethora of opportunities, at least in foreign and defense policy, that we should explore together. We Germans have a huge strategic interest in keeping the UK closely engaged in Europe.”
