EU president: new Britain-EU relationship would take 7 years
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}European Union President Donald Tusk says that voting to leave the bloc would be a geopolitical setback for Britain, and it would take at least seven years to negotiate a new Britain-EU relationship.
In an interview with German daily Bild published Monday, Tusk said a vote to leave in the June 23 referendum "would be a setback not just economically but above all geopolitically for Britain."
He was quoted as saying that no one can foresee the long-term consequences but he fears "Brexit could be the beginning of the destruction not just of the EU but of the entire political civilization of the West."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Tusk said cutting treaty links between Britain and the EU would take around two years and negotiating a new relationship would take at least another five.