PRAGUE (Sputnik) — Withdrawal from the European Union should be painful for the United Kingdom and become a warning for other EU countries that could follow British suit, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said Tuesday.
"For whom should Brexit be painful? For us, for the European Union? But did we exclude the United Kingdom?" Fico said, as quoted by Echo24 media outlet.
Fico noted that the biggest failure for the European Union would be the outcome in which the United Kingdom would profit from Brexit, thus setting an example for other European countries.
"This will be the best example for other EU member states that could start thinking about their own [similar] decisions in the form of certain referendums," the official pointed out.
On June 23, the United Kingdom held a referendum to determine whether or not the country should leave the European Union. According to the final results, 51.9 percent of voters, or 17.4 million people, supported Brexit.
