Professor Cedomir Nestorovic of the ESSEC Business School said Brexit is a “fear” for the European Union but to a “lesser extent” than the European Parliament elections which are set to take place in May 2019. Speaking to CNBC, Mr Nestorovic said: “I think that the biggest fear will be the election in May 2019 because we have the rise of all these populistic parties all over Europe.
“So, let’s turn the page and move to something else. We still have 28 countries there. The UK is just one country. So I think that within the European Union they don’t want to be fixated only on the UK.
“They have some other things to look after, especially their own elections. So, they are much more in fear of that rather than what is happening in the UK.”
The European elections will take place between May 23 and 26, less than two months after Britain’s exit from the Brussels bloc.
With the elections approaching, a political clash is expected to spark a tense battle between Europe’s left-wingers and populists.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini are expected to become the symbols of the two sides at the upcoming vote.
Neither of the two leading politicians will stand for a seat in the European Parliament elections.
But the two political forces have made it clear they will fight for their respective political sides to determine the future of the continent.
The French President has been battling in recent weeks to control the so-called “yellow vest” protests which have paralysed parts of France since erupting last month with demonstrators clashing with police, torching cars, erecting roadblocks and burning barricades.
And the Italian eurosceptics will likely team up with MEPs from Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party, who are also expected to gain votes.
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