Press

"The EU army has been one of the most persistent myths peddled by the Brexit campaign," Sophie Besch, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, told Defense One. But like any good rumor, the story did hold a speck of truth.
..."The problem [during the Brexit vote] was that calls for an EU defence union, for an operational HQ, for closer integration in general were all taken to mean ‘EU army’," said Besch.

"The Poles in Britain are an important part of the PiS electorate, so are their families," said Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska, a research fellow at London's Centre for European Reform think tank. "It would be risky to use the situation to persuade the Poles to return."

"The NATO summit was not supposed to be about Britain," said Ian Bond at the Centre of European Reform think-tank in London. "But NATO leaders will not be able to ignore the security implications of Britain's vote to leave the EU," he said.

For Camino Mortera-Martinez, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, the old continent needs "outsiders - strong, clear-minded leaders and thinkers, with a vision for the continent who were not born and bred within the European bubble." "Europeans are scared, they are wary of migration, many have lost their jobs. Brussels cannot counter-attack with yet another round of good-for-nothing summits and empty political declarations," she said.

Simon Tilford at the Centre for European reform pleaded with the EU to take it easy on Britain [in his recent insight: Dear EU leaders, please handle Britain with care'].

»Det har været en dag med enorme overraskelser i en uge med flere forbavsende begivenheder«, siger politologen Rem Korteweg, der er seniorforsker ved tænketanken Centre for European Reform.

"The knee-jerk reaction of the Commission is always to try to seize on any crisis to push for more Europe and closer integration," says Charles Grant from the Centre for European Reform. "This time, they can dream on."