Barack Obama does not see major, cataclysmic changes after Brexit

WASHINGTON: Downplaying concerns about the future of the UK or the EU after Brexit, US President Barack Obama has said that he does not anticipate any "major" or "cataclysmic" changes because of the new development.

"I don't anticipate that there's going to be major, cataclysmic changes as a consequence of this," Obama said in an interview to National Public Radio.
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"I think that the best way to think about this is a pause button has been pressed on the project of full European integration. I would not overstate it," he said in response to a question.

"There's been a little bit of hysteria post-Brexit vote, as if somehow NATO's gone and the trans-Atlantic alliance is dissolving and every country's rushing off to its own corner. And that's not what's happening," Obama said.

Noting that Norway is not a member of the European Union (EU), Obama said but it is one of closest US allies.

"They align themselves on almost every issue within Europe and us. They are a place that is continually supporting the kind of initiatives internationally that we support," he said.

"And if, over the course of what is going to be at least a two-year negotiation between England and Europe, Great Britain ends up being affiliated to Europe like Norway is, the average person is not going to notice a big change," said the US President.