Many feared if the UK voted to leave the European Union it would signal the end of the EU as we know it. Now that the votes have been cast in favor of leaving, it looks like that may be the case, as leaders in other European nations are now calling for referendums of their own.
France's National Front leader Marine Le Pen said the French must now also have the right to choose.
Dutch anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders said the Netherlands deserved a "Nexit" vote while Italy's Northern League said: "Now it's our turn". […]
The European parliament has called a special session for next Tuesday.
Analysts say EU politicians will fear a domino effect from Brexit that could threaten the whole organisation. […]
The EU worries Brexit could reverse 70 years of European integration.
In all my years watching European politics, I have never seen such a widespread sense of Euroscepticism.
Plenty of Europeans looked on with envy as Britain cast its In/Out vote. Many of the complaints about the EU raised by the Leave campaign resonated with voters across the continent.
Across Europe leading Eurosceptic politicians queued up this morning to crow about the UK referendum result.
But the mood in Brussels is deeply gloomy. The Brexit vote sends screaming alarm bells, warning that the EU in its current form isn't working.
"Victory for freedom,” Le Pen tweeted after the results came out. “As I've been saying for years, we must now have the same referendum in France and other EU countries."
Last week she said the EU was to blame for high unemployment and failing to stop the influx of “smugglers, terrorists, and economic migrants.”
Wilders was in agreement.
"We want to be in charge of our own country, our own money, our own borders, and our own immigration policy,” he said in a statement. "As quickly as possible the Dutch need to get the opportunity to have their say about Dutch membership of the European Union."
Political leaders of opposition parties in Italy, Sweden, Germany, and other European countries are saying much the same.
Based on an IPSOS poll from May, it looks like a handful of EU countries may actually be ready to hold a similar referendum.
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