Wednesday

6th Dec 2023

Obama: US needs Britain inside EU

  • Obama urged Britons to stay in the EU as it enhances the UK's influence in the world (Photo: President of the European Council)

US president Barack Obama has made a direct appeal to British voters to remain in the European Union as he begins a four-day visit to Europe on Friday (22 April).

In an article in the traditionally eurosceptic Daily Telegraph newspaper, Obama urged Britons to vote on 23 June to stay in the bloc, arguing that membership enhances Britain’s leadership in the world.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • US leader to meet Merkel and Hollande on next leg of EU trip (Photo: bundesregierung.de)

“You should be proud that the EU has helped spread British values and practices - democracy, the rule of law, open markets - across the continent and to its periphery,” he said.

“The European Union doesn’t moderate British influence - it magnifies it.”

“A strong Europe is not a threat to Britain’s global leadership; it enhances Britain’s global leadership,” he added.

Many in the campaign to leave the EU considered his appeal a form of outside interference.

Iain Duncan Smith, the former pensions secretary and a supporter of Brexit, said that by backing the campaign to stay in the EU, the US leader was asking British citizens to surrender sovereignty to an extent that Americans would never be willing to consider.

“What I do find strange is that he is asking the British people to accept a situation he would not recommend to the American population,” the Daily Mail quoted him as having said.

The US president also said the most effective nations on the world stage operate as part of larger alliances.

“Even as we all cherish our sovereignty, the nations who wield their influence most effectively are the nations that do it through the collective action that today’s challenges demand,” Obama wrote.

He also voiced US concerns that Britain leaving the EU would mean a Europe that is less involved in international affairs.

Obama said that the UK keeps the EU “open and outward looking” and ensures “it takes a strong stance in the world” and is “closely linked to its allies on the other side of the Atlantic”.

“The US and the world need your outsized influence to continue - including within Europe”, Obama wrote in the article.

Obama flew to Britain late on Thursday to begin what is his fifth presidential visit to the kingdom.

He will hold talks with prime minister David Cameron on Friday. The US administration thinks that Cameron took on a dangerous gamble by calling for a referendum on EU membership.

Besides Brexit, they will focus on the situation in Syria and Iraq.

Obama will start by making a visit to Windsor Castle to attend a lunch with Queen Elizabeth II a day after her 90th birthday.

From Britain, Obama will travel to Germany for a meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Francois Hollande, Italy's Matteo Renzi. The group will also be joined by Cameron.

Cameron: No second chance after Brexit vote

David Cameron has set out the EU-UK deal in the House of Commons, taking aim at his Tory rival Boris Johnson who suggested that after a No vote the UK could get a better deal.

Canada and US urge UK to stay in EU

Canada's prime minister Justin Trudeau, US diplomat Samantha Power and 250 British celebrities have come out in support of British membership in the EU.

Obama urges EU nations to stick together

US president Barack Obama said the world “needs a strong and prosperous and democratic and united Europe” and praised German chancellor Angela Merkel for welcoming refugees.

Obama: No quick UK trade deal if it leaves EU

Obama in London served a big blow to the Leave campaign saying the UK will be in the "back of the queue" in negotiating a trade deal with the US, if it were to leave the EU.

Polish truck protest at Ukraine border disrupts war supplies

Disruption at the Polish-Ukrainian border by disaffected Polish truckers is escalating, potentially affecting delivery of military aid to Ukraine. A Polish request to reintroduce permits for Ukrainian drivers has been described as "a shot to the head" during war.

Opinion

Tusk's difficult in-tray on Poland's judicial independence

What is obvious is that PiS put in place a set of interlocking safeguards for itself which, even after their political defeat in Poland, will render it very difficult for the new government to restore the rule of law.

Opinion

Can Green Deal survive the 2024 European election?

Six months ahead of the EU elections, knocking an 'elitist' climate agenda is looking like a vote-winner to some. Saving the Green Deal and the EU's climate ambitions starts with listening to Europeans who are struggling to make ends meet.

Latest News

  1. Crunch talks seek breakthrough on EU asylum overhaul
  2. Polish truck protest at Ukraine border disrupts war supplies
  3. 'Green' banks lend most to polluters, reveals ECB
  4. Tense EU-China summit showdown unlikely to bear fruit
  5. A look to the past and the future of China-EU relations
  6. Tusk's difficult in-tray on Poland's judicial independence
  7. EU nears deal to fingerprint six year-old asylum seekers
  8. Orbán's Ukraine-veto threat escalates ahead of EU summit

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us