EuropaPolitik
Title: Merkel To Meet New British PM When the UK voted to leave the European Union late last month, the shock waves spread almost immediately throughout the world. Major stock markets crashed, analysts on television and in print began forecasting long-term effects, and British citizens started a petition to hold a second referendum vote. In some cases, even people who had voted to leave the EU reportedly wanted to recast their votes because they'd never believed the Brexit was a serious option. All of these immediate effects weren't just due to the fact that the referendum did indeed result in the UK's decision to leave the EU. They were also due to how much of a surprise this decision really was. Though most polling had shown the two sides (""leave"" and ""stay"") as being very close, most every serious prediction indicated that the UK would ultimately remain in the EU. British betting markets have actually revealed that this event broke the record for non-sport betting, and if you look through the specific numbers, some of the popular books lost great amounts of money supporting the probability that the UK would ""stay."" The bookies, like most everyone else, were shocked. But even more shocking was the immediate political reaction in the UK. While the Brexit was always going to bring about swift and in some ways unpredictable change, few expected the turmoil to begin so quickly. As it happened, however, David Cameron resigned his position as Prime Minister within days of the EU referendum, and soon thereafter Boris Johnson — a Brexit proponent and many people's assumed frontrunner for the Prime Ministership — withdrew his candidacy. Conservative leader Theresa May then stepped in to assume the role of Prime Minister, and has already been the subject of multiple controversies. For instance, she promptly shut down the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change and recently indicated a willingness to use nuclear weapons if necessary. It's been a turbulent month to say the least, and Germany and other European nations have grown increasingly concerned about how the Brexit will affect things for the continent as a whole. However, we may now be seeing the first step toward stabilized relationships between the UK and some of the leading western European nations. This week, May will meet with Angela Merkel (as well as French President Francois Hollande) regarding Britain's place in a post-Brexit Europe. We don't know yet what will come of these talks, but for her part May seems to have prioritized national security as a talking point. It's going to be a long process for Germany and other nations to establish new relationship parameters with the UK. But this week will be the new beginning.
