Tusk said he had spoken to EU leaders in the past few days and the union had been prepared for the result and was determined to keep its unity. “There is no hiding the fact that we wanted a different outcome of yesterday’s referendum,” he said in Brussels on Friday.
“There is no way of predicting all the political consequences of this event – especially for the UK. It is a historic moment, but not a moment for hysterical reactions.”
Tusk promised to convene informal discussions without the British prime minister, David Cameron, on the margins of a scheduled EU summit next week, as well as a wider reflection on the future of the union. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” he said.
Martin Schulz, the president of the European parliament, said he would speak to the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, “on how we can avoid a chain reaction” of other EU states following Britain’s lead.
“The chain reaction being celebrated everywhere now by Eurosceptics won’t happen,” Schulz said, adding that the EU was the world’s biggest single market and “Britain has just cut its ties with that market. That’ll have consequences, and I don’t believe other countries will be encouraged to follow that dangerous path.”
Manfred Weber, the chairman of the European People’s party group of centre-right parties in the European parliament, stressed that Britain had crossed a line and there was no going back.
The vote “causes major damage to both sides”, Weber said. “Exit negotiations should be concluded within two years at max. There cannot be any special treatment. Leave means leave.”
