Putin challenges UK to see Brexit through

Vladimir Putin questioned whether British politicans would dare to deliver on the democratic mandate for Brexit following last week’s EU referendum result.

“We will see how their principles of democracy get realised in practice,” the Russian president said in an apparent expression of doubt that Britain’s political elite would follow through.

Putin’s remarks came after days of discussions among disappointed ‘Remain’ supporters about the possibility of not ever invoking Article 50 proceedings to leave the EU, or signing a Norway-style trade deal that would mean accepting unrestrained EU migration.

During the campaign, British prime minister David Cameron and other prominent ‘Leave’ supporters had warned that Putin was looking to Brexit to destabilise Europe and weaken EU resolve over economic sanctions imposed after the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Putin rejected the charge of meddling again yesterday saying that Brexit was “the choice of the subjects of Great Britain” and added that the Kremlin had “not in any way interfered” in the June 23 vote which he said would have consequences for everyone.

“It is clear that the traumatic effect from the results of the referendum will be felt for quite a long time,” he said.

Elsewhere in Europe, the French finance ministry issued a statement clarifying the French position that access to the single market was a condition on accepting freedom of movement.

The statement came after France’s finance minister, Michel Sapin, appeared to take a softer stance on the issue in an interview with the BBC on Wednesday.

Instead, yesterday Sapin chose to emphasise the costs of Brexit to the UK, contending that it would be an “an economic catastrophe for Britain” that – to a much lesser extent – would also impact negatively on France.

 “Yes, there will be consequences, first of all in Britain. And when a large economy like Britain's sees economic activity decline, this obviously has consequences on its neighbours,” he said.

In a sign of the continued disgruntlement felt towards Brussels in many part of Europe, the chief of staff to Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, admitted that he personally would vote to leave the EU if given the chance.

“This does not mean I am not pro-European, this means that the EU does not equal Europe,” said Janos Lazar, adding that that was his personal view.

“The EU today is not capable of defending and representing Europe's values and interests.”