MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Following the result of the British vote, top EU leaders have called on London to formally declare its intention to leave the bloc. German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out any negotiations on future deals with Britain until it triggers the formal Article 50 legal process to withdraw from the European Union.
"Many EU leaders want to speed up the process to demonstrate that the UK is the looser in this scenario. The EU wants to show it's united and strong and explain that a referendum is not a good thing," Die Linke party’s Alexander Neu said.
He noted that such attitudes can also be explained by anger at the British decision.
On Thursday, the United Kingdom held a referendum to determine whether or not the country should leave the European Union. According to the final results, 51.9 percent of voters, or 17.4 million people, decided to support Brexit, while about 16.1 million opposed it.