Change or collapse, Italy warns European Union

Italian ministers warned Saturday that the European Union must change direction or risk collapse after Britain’s vote to leave the bloc.

“The unthinkable is happening,” finance minister Pier Carlo Padoan said.

“A double reaction to Brexit is under way, one financial, one political. The financial one, at least until now, is limited. I am more worried about the political one.

“There is a cocktail of factors that can lead to various outcomes, including a further push towards disintegration.”

Speaking to Corriere della Sera, Padoan also said EU leaders had to understand there could be no more “business as usual” on the key issues of jobs, growth and immigration.

Foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni, meanwhile, warned it would be naive to underestimate the significance of Britain leaving or the risk of a surge in anti-EU sentiment across the continent.

“The UK was not only one amongst 28 (member states). It had a great weight because of its financial markets and its international influence,” Gentiloni said in an interview.