Populism has always haunted Western countries – Ernst Reichel

“Brexit is an outcome of the growth of populism in Europe. Populism is a phenomenon that has always been with us and has always – strong or weak – occurred in some country. In one form or another it has always haunted the Western countries”, Ernst Reichel, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany to Ukraine, noted at 10^th Kyiv Security Forum held by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation Open Ukraine.

The German diplomat also noted that despite the activeness of populism in Europe, the EU’s response to such irrational phenomenon as Brexit would be exclusively rational and responsible.

“Today populism is quite active in Europe. Currently, there are populists and the yellow press in the EU and they do their job. But we are to do our job, with every effort and a rational approach to solving the issues and challenges that we face today. Our commitment to rationality quite often gets us in trouble because our politicians like to introduce rational steps in the irrational environment. However, the issue of Brexit requires a rational approach from us and we gave a promise that our actions in this matter would be the most responsible and rational”, Ernst Reichel noted.

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Kyiv Security Forum was launched by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation Open Ukraine in 2007 is an annual international event to high-level discussions on the current issues in the Black Sea region and wider Europe. The Forum aims at increasing security cooperation between the EU and the Black Sea region, raising awareness about regional developments among key regional players, promoting the role of independent and non-governmental actors in setting the security agenda in Europe.