BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — Only the British people can decide whether they should stay in the European Union or not but a UK exit will change the 28-nation union for the worse, European Council President Donald Tusk said Wednesday.
"The EU will respect the decision of the British people. If the majority votes to leave that is what will happen. It will change Europe forever, and it will be a change for the worse," Tusk said at the European Parliament’s plenary session.
The European Parliament met in Brussels following last week's European Council talks on the United Kingdom’s EU membership, where Prime Minister David Cameron struck a deal with his 27 fellow EU leaders on EU reforms.
The deal paved the way for a UK in/out referendum, scheduled for June 23. The agreement to revise the bloc will only come into being if the British people opt for a future inside the European Union.
