Germany’s top-selling weekly on Saturday begged Britons to stay in the European Union, in a special issue published less than two weeks ahead of the June 23 referendum.
“Please don’t go!” reads the front cover of Der Spiegel magazine in both English and German with a full-page Union Jack as the cover image.
“Why Germany needs the British,” the 23-page special dubbed “the Brexit issue” sets out to explain.
“The choice is a moment of pride and a new future built together,” wrote the magazine’s editors in chief Klaus Brinkbaeumer and Florian Harms.
“If Britain is clever, it will remain a member of the EU because it will recognise that the future of the West is at stake,” they added in their editorial column.
“So if Britain is clever, it will realise that it is not a world power on its own, that it will lose much with a yes to Brexit on June 23, and gain nothing but a brief moment of pride.”
In an interview with Der Spiegel, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned Friday that Britain would no longer have access to the single market like non-EU members Norway and Switzerland do, should voters opt out.
“In is in. Out is out,” he said. “I hope and believe that the British will ultimately decide against Brexit. The withdrawal of Britain would be a heavy loss for Europe.”
