WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The referendum on the UK membership in the European Union will be held on June 23, 2016.
"Yes, definitely this [Brexit vote] has security dimensions," Schulz stated at a Friday symposium on Transatlantic security hosted by the US Institute of Peace.
Schulz explained that the United Kingdom is one of the few EU nations that brings "particularly relevant… high end military capabilities into the pool of the European Union."
The United Kingdom will spend more than $55 billion on defense in 2016, ranking it among the top five nations in the world by military expenditures, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Supporters of UK exit from the bloc argue that EU membership has eroded Britain’s national sovereignty, while opponents have argued Brexit could impact everything from the economy to national security.
