Britain’s neighbours fret that it could drift away
And into the arms of non-European powers
IMAGINE BRITAIN in a few months’ time, having left the EU without a deal. Markets and sterling are plummeting. The country has left the EU’s foreign-policy structures without any framework for future relations. Its government falls. A new prime minister scans the world for friends and picks up the phone to the White House, Zhongnanhai in Beijing or even Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The spectre of Airstrip One”
Europe March 30th 2019
- Germany’s struggling Social Democrats
- Ukraine heads for the polls, with a comedian leading
- A surge for the FVD, a new right-wing Dutch party
- Turkey’s President Erdogan accuses the West of terrorism
- France’s yellow-jacket protests are smaller, but still fierce
- Britain’s neighbours fret that it could drift away
From the March 30th 2019 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Europe
Russian trainee pilots appear to be hunting Ukrainian civilians
Residents of Kherson are dodging murderous drones
Can the good ship Europe weather the Trumpnado?
Tossed by political storms, the continent must dodge a new threat
Spain’s proposed house tax on foreigners will not fix its shortage
Pedro Sánchez will need the opposition’s help to increase supply
A French-sponsored Ukrainian army brigade has been badly botched
The scandal reveals serious weaknesses in Ukraine’s military command
A TV dramatisation of Mussolini’s life inflames Italy
With Giorgia Meloni in power, the fascist past is more relevant than ever
France’s new prime minister is trying to court the left
François Bayrou gambles with Emmanuel Macron’s economic legacy