Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Image: Getty)
Angela Merkel, Germany’s former Chancellor, has revealed her “torment” at the outcome of the 2016 Brexit referendum, describing it as a “humiliation, a disgrace” for the European Union which left her feeling deeply deflated.
In her new memoir Freedom, Ms Merkel - who stepped down in 2021 - reflects on her attempts to stop Britain from quitting the bloc and laments the long-term consequences of its departure.
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She writes: “To me, the result felt like a humiliation, a disgrace for us, the other members of the European Union – the United Kingdom was leaving us in the lurch.
“This changed the European Union in the view of the world; we were weakened.”
Ms Merkel spends five pages discussing Britain’s decision to vote leave, detailing her attempts to help then-Prime Minister David Cameron in renegotiating the UK’s position within the EU.
READ MORE: Germans fuming as Olaf Scholz tears up Angela Merkel's open border policy
David Cameron and Angela Merkel pictured in Japan in 2016 (Image: Getty)
At one point she talks of standing by him during a critical February 2016 summit, risking alienating other EU leaders in order to back his calls for changes to freedom of movement and trade.
She admits: “My support of him rendered me an outsider with my other colleagues.
"I steadfastly remained by David Cameron’s side for an entire evening.
"In this way, I was able to prevent his complete isolation in the council and eventually move the others to back down.”
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Angela Merkel stepped down as German Chancellor in 2021 (Image: Getty)
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In the event, Ms Merkel concluded that Mr Cameron bore much of the blame for Brexit, pinpointing his 2005 decision to withdraw Tory MEPs from the European People’s Party (EPP) as an early mistake which fanned the flames of Euroscepticism.
She explains: “From the very beginning, he put himself in the hands of those who were sceptical about the European Union, and was never able to escape this dependency."
Ms Merkel also singled out what she called mistakes by successive UK governments, especially the failure to impose restrictions on workers from Eastern Europe when the EU expanded in 2004.
This, she says, enabled Eurosceptics to exploit fears about immigration. In contrast, Germany and France phased in workers’ rights more gradually, delaying full access until 2011.
Angela Merkel and then-UK PM Theresa May pictured in Brussels (Image: Getty)
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Reflecting on the referendum itself, Ms Merkel admits she asked herself whether she could have done more to keep the UK in the EU.
However, she adds: “Even with the best political will, mistakes of the past could not be undone.”
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Brexit, she concludes, was a “textbook example” of the dangers of early miscalculations in political strategy.
Despite her misgivings, Ms Merkel claims the forces driving the UK’s departure were ultimately outside of her control.
Freedom: Memories 1954–2021 is published this week.