Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that he believes the U.S. and the rest of the world can survive Britain’s vote last week to leave the European Union, just before his meeting with European leaders on Monday.
Kerry’s upbeat message was delivered after he held several meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Rome.
“And of course, finally, we talked about Brexit — impossible not to — and how that might or might not affect all economies,” Kerry said. “And I think we came to the conclusion that, managed properly with leadership and effort by all of the parties to calm the waters and move in a steady way, that we can get through this.”
Kerry called it “another transformation” that must be managed with an eye toward “minimizing any kind of collateral negative effect.”
Kerry was set to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders Monday, as governments and markets around the world continue to struggle to cope with the uncertainty surrounding Britain’s vote. Markets fell globally after the vote, and U.S. futures markets were indicating another drop on Monday.
On Sunday, Kerry said one of his goals was to assure Britain that its status as a member of the EU wouldn’t weaken its relationship with the U.S.
“I will travel to Brussels & London on Monday to reaffirm our unwavering partnership w/ the EU & UK,” Kerry tweeted Sunday.
I will travel to Brussels & London on Monday to reaffirm our unwavering partnership w/ the EU & UK. Will meet w/ @FedericaMog & @PHammondMP
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) June 26, 2016
Meanwhile, supporters of the move to leave the EU were working to calm the situation by offering assurances that the vote only means technical changes to the U.K.-EU relationship.
Boris Johnson, one of the lead campaigners who pushed for the vote to leave the EU, wrote Sunday that the vote should not be seen as a reaction to immigration policies, but rather to the lack of control the U.K. had over its own affairs as a member of the EU.
“After meeting thousands of people in the course of the campaign, I can tell you that the number one issue was control — a sense that British democracy was being undermined by the EU system, and that we should restore to the people that vital power: to kick out their rulers at elections, and to choose new ones,” he wrote in the Telegraph.
“The only change — and it will not come in any great rush — is that the U.K. will extricate itself from the EU’s extraordinary and opaque system of legislation: the vast and growing corpus of law enacted by a European Court of Justice from which there can be no appeal,” he wrote. “This will bring not threats, but golden opportunities for this country — to pass laws and set taxes according to the needs of the U.K.”
