British Prime David Cameron warns that Brexit would heighten the risk of war in Europe
The EU was founded after the second world war, in part to prevent the continent’s nations from waging war ever again.
Raising the stakes in Britain’s European Union membership debate, Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday that leaving the bloc would increase the risk of war in Europe.
Cameron’s speech on national security came as campaigning ahead of a June 23 vote on the country’s EU membership moved into its final weeks.
Cameron said it would be rash to assume that “peace and stability on our continent are assured beyond any shadow of doubt.” He said the EU “has helped reconcile countries which were at each other’s throats for decades.”
“Britain has a fundamental national interest in maintaining common purpose in Europe to avoid future conflict between European countries,” he said.
Cameron argued that “isolationism has never served this country well. Whenever we turn our back on Europe, sooner or later we come to regret it.”
Whenever we turn our back on Europe, sooner or later we come to regret it
The EU was founded after the second world war, in part to prevent the continent’s nations from waging war ever again. But terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels and the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa have highlighted the security challenges facing the bloc.