British Referendum Threatens European Union

By Brian Kesten

This summer, United Kingdom citizens will vote in a referendum to determine if the UK will leave the European Union. After EU members spent much of 2015 negotiating with Greece to restructure its debt and avoid a “Grexit,” the 2016 UK vote now poses the most significant threat to the EU’s modern governance experiment.  

Thus far, Britain’s conservative Prime Minister, David Cameron has encouraged Britons to remain in the EU, while London’s Mayor Boris Johnson, another conservative, has pushed for Britain to leave the European Union. Cameron has argued that Britain is able to earn concessions by remaining in the Union. At the same time, commentators fear that the EU could unravel if the UK leaves during the migrant crisis.