AFTER BREXIT, FREXIT? POLL SHOWS FRENCH WANT A REFERENDUM TOO

First, there was Brexit—the possibility of Britain leaving the European Union in its upcoming membership referendum. Then there was Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka’s irresistible coinage of Czexit to warn of knock-on referenda elsewhere in the EU. Now, a new poll suggests that we could be dealing with the threat of Frexit, Swexit, Gerxit and Spexit in the not-too-distant future.

Research from Edinburgh University shows that 53 percent of French would like to hold their own vote on EU membership, and in Spain, Germany and Sweden more people are in favor of doing so than are opposed.

Marine le Pen, leader of the hard-right Euroskeptic party Front National, which wants France to hold an EU referendum, welcomed the research in a blog post, saying French demands for a referendum were “extremely encouraging.” .... http://europe.newsweek.com