In 2016, Britain made history as the first country to leave the European Union, setting a precedent for other countries to escape from under the thumb of the bloc.
A noticeable unease has set in across the EU, and member states have begun to rebel. Countries that were originally led by Europhile leaders have elected more and more anti-bloc politicians.
Notably, the election of Geert Wilders of the Netherlands last month sent shockwaves through the country and likely through Brussels as well.
Elsewhere, Marine Le Pen has been snapping at the heels of France’s Emmanuel Macron, as the French elections approach and Giorgia Meloni of Italy continues to stand up to the EU – and other member states – on topics including migration and the Brussels’ human rights laws.
In recent months, proposed changes to the EU treaty have only worsened the situation as an Italian MEP accused left-wing ‘Turbo-Europeans’ of trying to turn the bloc into a modern-day Soviet Union.
Earlier this month, Nicola Procaccini, the co-chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament, also warned the very sovereignty of the EU27 member states was at stake, stressing: “This is what the 2024 elections will be about.”
Mr Procaccini was speaking the day before new proposals are put before the assembly in relation to the controversial Spitzenkandidaten system for choosing the President of the European Commission.
The draft report calls for all European political parties to announce their candidates for the top Commission job at least 12 weeks before election day on June 6.
As the EU faces problem after problem, Express.co.uk asked its readers which country they believed would be the next to follow Britain’s lead and leave the EU.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the recent elections, one country stood out well ahead of the others.
According to Express.co.uk readers, Geert Wilders will pull the trigger for the Netherlands as 48 percent of respondents believed his country would be the next to leave.
The next country expected to leave was Italy, as readers didn’t underestimate Meloni’s power to make a big change.
After that came Sweden, then France and Germany. The country readers thought was least likely to leave next was Spain. This is perhaps an unsurprising result for Spain, as new leader Pedro Sánchez recently won the election in Spain and is the General Secretary of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party.
However, 11 percent of respondents thought a different country entirely would be next to leave, and eight percent said they didn’t know.
The full list of results is as follows:
- The Netherlands – 48 percent
- Italy – 15 percent
- Other – 11 percent
- Sweden – eight percent
- Don’t know – eight percent
- France – six percent
- Germany – three percent
- Spain – one percent
Vote on which country you think will be next to leave below.
