A British exit from the European Union would be disastrous for Europe's image in the world, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in an interview published Friday by Austrian newspaper Der Standard.
"Try to explain to an Indonesian: Europe is an incredibly strong, dynamic entity, but sadly not in a position to keep a globally focused member such as the U.K.," Mr. Schaeuble is quoted as saying. "The image damage alone would be a catastrophe."
One wonders what Schäuble has been doing during the last five or six years. He must be just about the only European who is describing the crisis ridden European Union to Indonesians (and presumably to other non-Europeans) as "an incredibly strong, dynamic entity".
Both Indonesians and other foreigners are of course very familiar with EU's real image - a slow motion Titanic, drifting aimlessly in a sea of perpetual recession and financial crisis. Whether the UK is in or out, cannot change that image very much.
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