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EU leaves Britain out in the cold as PM race begins

Highlighting the seismic shock from last week’s referendum, one person who was in Brussels however was Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, “utterly determined” to see Scotland remain in the EU.

Britain “made the decision that it did. And this morning it looks like they aren’t sitting at the table any more,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said as he arrived Wednesday.

At a summit described as “sad” on Tuesday, Cameron won some breathing space from the remaining 27 leaders of the bloc five days after Britain rocked financial markets by voting 52 to 48 percent to leave the bloc.

EU President Donald Tusk said he understood that time was needed “for the dust to settle” before the next steps can be taken. However, Juncker warned Britain did not have “months to meditate” before triggering Article 50 -- the EU treaty clause that begins the two-year withdrawal process -- after Cameron’s successor takes office in early September.

And German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that London could not “cherry-pick” the terms of the exit negotiations.

Some in Brussels are concerned that giving Britain favourable divorce terms will spark a domino effect of others leaving the union, set up six decades ago to foster peace on the continent after World War II. “We need more than ever a united Europe, in contrast to a disunited UK,” Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said Wednesday.

Cameron flew back to London after on Tuesday’s summit, as Sturgeon headed in the opposite direction to test the waters in Brussels for her country joining the bloc as a separate entity. 
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