ATHENS (Sputnik) — The outcome of the Brexit referendum showed that EU leaders needed to abandon punitive policies in favor of democratic dialogue, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said Friday.
"The British referendum results confirmed our insistence on the need for a mandatory democratic discussion of the future of the European Union, with the aim of increasing its social functioning and democratizing its structures so that they work to serve the people of Europe and appear attractive for the union's member states," the minister said in a statement.
"The European leaders' priority should be to abandon the punitive logic and the policy of ranger graves in order to cultivate a culture of democratic dialogue and consensus," the statement reads.