25 April 2016•Update: 28 April 2016
LONDON
U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday warned that the world needs a stronger, more prosperous Europe to combat intolerance and inequality around the world.
Speaking ahead of a summit of five Western countries in Germany, Obama said that fears and security should not undermine a commitment to universal values.
His remarks were the latest in a series of speeches in support of the European Union as the continent faces a migration crisis and the threat of Brexit.
He told an audience at the Hanover Messe industrial fair: “If a unified, peaceful, liberal, pluralistic, free-market Europe begins to doubt itself, begins to question the progress that's been made over the last several decades, then we can't expect the progress that is just now taking hold in many places around the world will continue.
“Instead, we will be empowering those who argue that democracy can't work, that intolerance and tribalism and organizing ourselves along ethnic lines and authoritarianism and restrictions on the press – that those are the things that the challenges of today demand”.
He added: “I've come here today to the heart of Europe to say that the United States and the entire world needs a strong and prosperous and united Europe”.
Obama’s comments come just days after he visited Britain and publicly urged voters to support their country’s continued EU membership in a referendum this summer.
More than 46 million people will be eligible to vote in the June 23 EU referendum, a manifesto commitment from the governing Conservative Party ahead of last year’s parliamentary election.
