A majority of British voters said Thursday that the United Kingdom should leave the European Union, launching markets into turmoil as investors tried to digest what the referendum means for the U.K. and the European bloc as a whole.
Although concern for the future of the EU may seem like hyperbole, nearly every member state has a political contingent in favor of leaving the union, and the successful Brexit vote may have just politically legitimized — and energized — those movements.
In fact, a poll from IPSOS released in May showed that there are a handful of countries with about half of their population ready for a U.K.-like referendum.
As shown in the chart below, 58 percent of Italians surveyed said they wanted to hold a referendum — although slightly less than half said they’d ultimately vote to leave the EU. For its part, France had similar results.
Brexit is NOT locked in!
This vote is only advisory.
We will have to see how much arm twisting and blackmail
is put on Parliament before they vote on leaving the EU