Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 30 March 2017

Joy and sorrow: People from UK, AP Essay:
Europe react to Brexit triggering Britain strikes historic blow to EU; will go it alone

GREGORY KATZ which have been marked tisoned their national cur-
LONDON (AP) — Across the United Kingdom and Associated Press by financial and immigra- rency (and a bit of their
throughout Europe, there was joy and sorrow LONDON (AP) — Britain will tion crises, there seemed to sovereignty) in favor of the
Wednesday as Prime Minister Theresa May formally go it alone — turning its be a certain historical inevi- euro, and physical border
triggered a two-year process that will end with Brit- back on decades of inte- tability to the expansion of crossings were disman-
ain exiting the European Union. The country voted gration to control its own the European Union. tled. National boundaries,
52 to 48 percent to leave in a June referendum. borders and free itself from It grew from the rubble of once so bitterly contested,
the European Union’s spi- World War II, binding to- seemed like hypothetical
-Mike Piper, 70, retired, of Dover, England: “All I want der web of rules and regu- gether former enemies lines drawn on a quaint,
to do before I die is see my country free from the
shackles of Europe.”

-Bob McCallum, 85, retired, of Edinburgh, Scotland:
“I’m just a bit sad when people — the majority of the
(Scottish) people — voted to stay in the EU and The-
resa May was not elected so I don’t see her prob-
lem with letting Scotland having another (indepen-
dence) referendum.”

-Nigel Dentoom, runs a commodities trading com-
pany in London: “Obviously there will be a couple of
difficult years in negotiation but I think the U.K. and
London in particular will end up being the largest
financial center because of its time zone and the
resource and the intellectual capital and the infra-
structure that we have here.”

-Telecommunications professional Frederic Royer,
a Frenchman who works in London: “We are a little
upset. A little disappointed. I hope it will not affect
London and that it will continue to grow and be a
big city like it was before.”
Police officers escort remain supporters dressed up in Alice in Wonderland themed costumes
-Freeman, 66, a retired secretary in Sunderland, Eng- and with a white German Shepherd dog named “Alba White Wolf” away from an area television
land: “I voted for Brexit, so it’s good it’s going to start. broadcasters use on College Green in London, Wednesday, March 29, 2017. Britain’s Prime Min-
I have become a bit concerned about what it might ister, Theresa May was photographed signing the letter delivered to EU Council President Donald
mean for jobs, but I think we will make the best of Tusk that will trigger Brexit — a process Britain says is irreversible. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
it. It’s not right we were controlled from Europe, we
need to control our own destiny.” lations. whose common history obsolete map.
It is a bold and risky move was marred by centuries of When the Soviet Union
-City of London worker Nicola Gibson: “No one for this proud island nation. bloody warfare. collapsed in 1991, and its
knows how it’s going to go, so it’s just a question on Few countries have walked Most importantly, it repre- Eastern European satellites
keeping an eye on the next few days. Is it going to away from such a large, sented a triumphant vision: were finally set free from
affect me personally? Probably not. I shall still go prosperous and peaceful The countries that beat Kremlin control, it seemed
about my daily business. I shall still work. I shall still alliance in favor of a solo back Nazism and fascism only natural that the lead-
carry on having holidays. And we’ll see what hap- path. would extend a hand to ers of the newly liberated
pens.” The impact on Europe will Germany and Italy, where countries would look to

be momentous — and those ideologies had flour- France, Germany, Britain
-Polish engineer Piotr Wierzbicki, 64, while flying from won’t be clear for several ished, and pull them into and other Western powers
Poland to England: The British “shot themselves in years at least. Britain’s ac- the modern world while the for inspiration.
the foot and will also lose Scotland now. It will be tion comes at a time of destroyed continent was They had endured stifling
bad for their economy and it will be bad for the EU.” maximum peril for the EU, rebuilt. dictatorship, brutal secret
which finds its liberal found- United against a common police abuses and pre-
-Anti-Brexit protester Ron Daniel of London: “I don’t ing principles under pres- Soviet enemy, and backed cious few political rights.
accept Brexit. I don’t accept the democratic choice sure as never before. With by the considerable fire- The allure of the prosper-
of Brexit. It’s racist. It’s about deporting people.” one brisk step, Britain has power of the United States ous West, with its free press,
ended the EU’s growth via the NATO alliance, the open markets and expand-
-Charles Goodacre, 62, former taxi driver in Sunder- phase and, perhaps, start- Western European nations ing economies, seemed ir-
land, England: “I’m glad this day has finally come. ed it on a path of decay that formed the EU — first as resistible.
This is what the people voted for. I voted for Brexit and possible dissolution. an economic bloc called Hearty, triumphalist figures
and today is the day that vote starts to count. Things It’s impossible to know if the European Economic like Germany’s Helmut Kohl
have been bad round here for a while and we Britain will be the only dis- Community — prospered and France’s Francois Mit-
needed a change. There’s been a lot of arguments gruntled nation to walk under remarkably liberal terrand helped engineer
about what happened but we can now get on with away, or if it has set in mo- trade and immigration poli- the unification of East and
it.” tion a process that others cies. West Germany and wel-
will follow, leaving the Eu- Symbols of union abound- comed Eastern European
-Juergen Clemens of Berlin: “It doesn’t worry me, but ropean dream of an “ever ed: The British and French newcomers, setting in mo-
it will have an impact on the economy but the Ger- closer union” nothing more cooperated to build a for- tion policies that eventually
man economy as well as the everyday German on than a quaint catchphrase midable Channel Tunnel led the EU to expand to an
the street are strong enough to cope with it.” q from an era gone by. that forever linked the two unwieldy bloc of 28 na-
Until the last few years, nations. Most countries jet- tions. q