EU should treat Brexit as a wake-up call

WITH his ill-considered referendum on European Union membership, David Cameron, now departed as British prime minister, played Russian roulette - and lost. But the list of losers extends much wider. Underlined by last Thursday's renewed terrorist atrocity in France and the attempted Turkish military coup, Europe faces a rising tide of challenges on many fronts.

The remaining 27 EU members must treat the referendum result as a wake-up call for Europe-wide renewal, with the aim of improving the EU's content, institutions and transparency in all its fields of action.

Britain's vote to leave was a setback for a united Europe of peace, democracy and prosperity. Through culture, history and the spread of its language, the UK incontestably belongs to Europe. But there are two sides to every coin, and crisis yields opportunity. Now is the time to seize it.