The Obama administration’s top diplomat told representatives of the European Union on Monday that they should not go off “half-cocked” or “loses their head” now that Britain has voted to leave the collective of European nations.
“I think it is absolutely essential that we stay focused on how, in this transitional period, nobody loses their head, nobody goes off half-cocked, people don’t start ginning up scatterbrained or revengeful premises, but we look for ways to maintain the strength that will serve the interests and the values that brought us together in the first place,” Kerry said after a meeting with EU officials in Brussels. “And that’s what is important.”
Kerry admitted that the Obama administration opposed the result, but said all of Europe must nonetheless respect “a vote which was taken by people in a democratic process.”
“The vote did not come out the way President Obama and I and others hoped that it would, but that’s democracy, and we respect the rights of the voters and we respect the process,” he said.
Kerry was making his way for a meeting with British leaders and other European leaders on Monday. Before leaving, he stressed that he U.S. values its relationship not only with Britain, but with the remaining EU as well.
“The United States cares about a strong EU,” he said. “Why? Because there isn’t one issue on which we work today – whether it’s climate change or whether it’s counterterrorism, migration, immigration, you name it, we are working together.”
