founding nations met in Berlin on Saturday for
hastily arranged talks following Britain's
stunning vote to leave the bloc.
As German Foreign Minister Frank-Agree
Steinmeier was heading into the meeting, he
told reporters it was critical to see the vote as
a wakeup call.
"The shock of the vote is still sitting deep, but
these are also days where not all the answers
are ready," he said.
Steinmeier was meeting with his counterparts
from France, Netherlands , Italy, Belgium and
Luxembourg at the government's Villa Borsig
mansion on the outskirts of Berlin.
The German foreign minister said now was
the time to listen to each other to find out
what the 27 remaining EU countries wanted
for the future of the union.
Steinmeier also stressed that EU politicians
also need to listen to "the expectations of the
people."
He mentioned the refugee crisis, high
unemployment among young people in
southern Europe and security concerns
following the terror attacks in France and
Belgium as important issues where people had
the right to expect better answers from EU
policy makers.
Despite a need for a solution of these and
other pressing issues in the European Union,
he cautioned against rash decisions.
"It's totally clear that in times like these one
should neither be hysterical nor fall into
paralysis," Steinmeier said.
Steinmeier's office had said earlier that the
meeting is one of many conversations now
taking place, and shouldn't be seen as "an
exclusive format."
Besides the German foreign minister, France's
Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and
counterparts from The Netherlands, Bert
Koenders, Italy's Paolo Gentiloni, Dider
Reynders from Belgium and Jean Asselborn
from Luxembourg were taking part in the
talks.
Source: abcnews
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