There has been much speculation that a Brexit could lead to a number of other countries following suit and leaving the EU. Top of that list is Denmark, with Nigel Farage claiming that the country would be the first to leave in a domino effect triggered by Brexit.
Now Denmark’s former Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt has waded into the discussion. When asked, at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women event in London, whether Denmark would leave the EU if Britain did, Thorning-Schmidt poured cold water on the suggestion. The former Social Democrat politician, who is the current chief exec of Save the Children, says the majority of Danes want to remain in the EU — even though they voted against closer ties in a referendum in December:
‘The Danish discussion is quite different from the British discussion. If you asked the Danes if they want to leave the EU or stay, you’ll get a majority that want to stay.’
Although Thorning-Schmidt, who is married to Labour’s Stephen Kinnock, concedes that a lot of Danes don’t like the EU, she argues that they understand deep down that the pros out-way the cons:
‘Everyone knows that the EU is not perfect, but deep down I think a lot of Danish know how much we gain economically, culturally in terms of our freedom by being part of the EU.’
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