Brexit is unlikely, former president Basescu told Romania TV

According to former Romanian president Traian Basescu, the United Kingdom will not leave the European Union after the June 23 referendum.

An EU exit is very unlikely, the former president told broadcaster Romania TV (RTV). “David Cameron played a card, and he will win. There won’t be any Brexit, the United Kingdom will not leave the European Union for anything in the world because it would suffer enormous losses,” Basescu said.

Moreover, Basescu argued, the Parliament will never repeal accession laws, regardless of referendum results. “David Cameron’s message in the Council was: You either grant me some facilities – and he was referring to social facilities, but also to contributions to the EU budget – (…) or, if not, the referendum I promised the British people will be one where they will vote for the exit. You can put me on the record as saying that there will not be an exit. Cameron reached his objective – he received cuts on social contributions and facilities, therefore his problem is solved. It was a bit of a tough game. Regardless of what the British will vote for, the Parliament must validate by law, meaning it would have to repel accession laws and it will never do that,” Basescu explained.

In the event the UK leaves the European Union, the Romanian economy will take a hit, experts told Business Review in an exclusive analysis. In terms of trade, Romania might have to look for new markets for its exports. Great Britain is the fifth trade destination for Romania and the 15^th largest importer to the Romanian market. In the event the UK exits the EU, companies with British capital that have operations locally will be affected by uncertainly. Overall, the entire European Union will suffer from uncertainty over a long period of time, if the Brexit campaign is successful.

Read the BR exclusive analysis “How would the Brexit impact Romania?”