Tag: EU membership

Britain votes in historic referendum on EU

by Katherine HADDON LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Millions of Britons began voting Thursday in a bitterly-fought, knife-edge referendum that could tear up the island nation’s EU membership and spark the greatest emergency of the bloc’s 60-year history. A record 46.5 million voters were registered to decide Britain’s future in the 28-nation European Union, which was born out of a determination to unite in lasting peace after the carnage of two world wars. Across much […]

Cameron holding Brexit vote ‘to blackmail’ Europe: Putin

SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia (AFP) — British Prime Minister David Cameron is holding a referendum on EU membership to “blackmail” and “scare” Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested Friday. “Why has he set up this referendum? To blackmail Europe? Or to scare it? What is the purpose if he himself is against” Britain leaving the European Union, Putin said during a meeting with representatives of news agencies, including AFP. “It’s not our business, it is the […]