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Europe to push for quickie British divorce as Kerry flies in

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel (C) will host the leaders of France, Italy and the EU in Berlin on Monday to discuss the Brexit crisis

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel (C) will host the leaders of France, Italy and the EU in Berlin on Monday to discuss the Brexit crisis

June 26, 2016: European leaders will embark this week on a frantic drive to push Britain for a quick divorce, with top US diplomat John Kerry rushing to join discussions as the “Brexit” crisis goes global.

Germany’s powerful Chancellor Angela Merkel will host the leaders of France, Italy and the EU in Berlin on Monday amid fears Britain’s vote to leave will create a domino effect in eurosceptic member states.

In what promises to be one of the bitterest summits in the EU’s history, British Prime Minister David Cameron will then face huge pressure in Brussels on Tuesday to immediately trigger the two-year exit process.

But Cameron, who has said he will resign by October and leave the negotiations to his successor, is to be left out in the cold on the second day of the summit on Wednesday when the other 27 EU leaders meet without him.

With a dismayed Washington fearing key ally Britain’s decision to leave the EU will harm Western unity, Kerry flies in to Brussels and London on Monday.

Cameron to ‘explain’ at summit 

For European powers the priority is to divorce as soon as possible and stabilise a union that is already struggling with from growing anti-EU populism, a migration crisis and economic woes.

Merkel has said there is “no reason to be nasty” in Britain’s exit negotiations.

But there are increasing fears in London that an impatient EU will want to make an example of Britain to discourage others thinking about a referendum of their own.

Her talks in Berlin with French President Francois Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, and separately with EU President Donald Tusk, will also focus on a plan for reforms of the bloc to stem the tide of populist anger against the EU.

In Brussels on Tuesday, Cameron must run the gauntlet of his fellow leaders who just four months ago backed a special deal meant to keep Britain in the EU, and will now be talking to a lame-duck leader who failed to convince his own country to stay.

Cameron will “explain the situation in the UK after the referendum” at the EU summit dinner on Tuesday, according to a invitation letter sent by Tusk to the 28 leaders.

European Parliament chief Martin Schulz, who will also be present at the summit, urged Cameron to begin the formal proceedings to leave and warned that failure to do so will risk jobs across the bloc.

“Hesitating simply to accommodate the party tactics of the British Conservatives hurts everyone,” Schulz told Bild am Sonntag. “That is why we expect the British government to now deliver. The summit on Tuesday is the right time.”

Triggering Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty — which has never been used before — starts a two-year clock ticking for negotiating a formal exit arrangement.

Britain will also have to negotiate trade deals and other aspects of its future relationship with the EU.

Britain out in the cold

On Wednesday the other 27 leaders will meet “informally” without Cameron to “discuss the so called ‘divorce process'” and “start a discussion on the future of the European Union with 27 Member States,” Tusk’s letter says.

During talks in Berlin on Saturday the EU’s six founding states urged Britain to leave “as soon as possible,” now it has made its choice, warning that the continent could not be left in limbo.

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker warned at the weekend that it would not be an “amicable” divorce.

Kerry meanwhile will hold talks with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in Brussels, before flying on to London.

Mogherini said on Sunday Britain’s departure made it even more important that the bloc presents a united front against global challenges, such as Europe’s worst migrant crisis since World War II and a resurgent Russia.