Joy, sorrow: People in UK, Europe react to Brexit triggering

LONDON (AP) — Across the United Kingdom and throughout Europe, there was joy and sorrow Wednesday as Prime Minister Theresa May formally triggered a two-year process that will end with Britain exiting the European Union. The country voted 52 to 48 percent to leave in a June referendum.

___

Mike Piper, 70, retired, of Dover, England: "All I want to do before I die is see my country free from the shackles of Europe."

___

Bob McCallum, 85, retired, of Edinburgh, Scotland: "I'm just a bit sad when people — the majority of the (Scottish) people — voted to stay in the EU and Theresa May was not elected so I don't see her problem with letting Scotland having another (independence) referendum."

___

Nigel Dentoom, runs a commodities trading company in London: "Obviously there will be a couple of difficult years in negotiation but I think the U.K. and London in particular will end up being the largest financial center because of its time zone and the resource and the intellectual capital and the infrastructure that we have here."

___

Telecommunications professional Frederic Royer, a Frenchman who works in London: "We are a little upset. A little disappointed. I hope it will not affect London and that it will continue to grow and be a big city like it was before."

___

Janet Freeman, 66, a retired secretary in Sunderland, England: "I voted for Brexit, so it's good it's going to start. I have become a bit concerned about what it might mean for jobs, but I think we will make the best of it. It's not right we were controlled from Europe, we need to control our own destiny."

___

City of London worker Nicola Gibson: "No one knows how it's going to go, so it's just a question on keeping an eye on the next few days. Is it going to affect me personally? Probably not. I shall still go about my daily business. I shall still work. I shall still carry on having holidays. And we'll see what happens."

___

Polish engineer Piotr Wierzbicki, 64, while flying from Poland to England: The British "shot themselves in the foot and will also lose Scotland now. It will be bad for their economy and it will be bad for the EU."

___

Anti-Brexit protester Ron Daniel of London: "I don't accept Brexit. I don't accept the democratic choice of Brexit. It's racist. It's about deporting people."

___

Charles Goodacre, 62, former taxi driver in Sunderland, England: "I'm glad this day has finally come. This is what the people voted for. I voted for Brexit and today is the day that vote starts to count. Things have been bad round here for a while and we needed a change. There's been a lot of arguments about what happened but we can now get on with it."

___

Juergen Clemens of Berlin: "It doesn't worry me, but it will have an impact on the economy but the German economy as well as the everyday German on the street are strong enough to cope with it."

___

Adam Koziolek, 53, Polish entrepreneur in Warsaw: "Poland will be poorer because there will be less funds in the EU. It is very good for Poland that it is in the EU. Without the EU we would not have what we have now. The EU does a very good job overseeing things here."

___

Eleine Morrison, 18, from Milton Keynes, England: "I'm really anxious about it. It was a bad idea. I like traveling to other countries. And it will be a trouble now. The pound is weaker so it will cost more to buy the euros, and the costs of travel will be more expensive. And there will be red tape."

___

Ken Gaines, 69, retired merchant seaman in Dover: "Actually, I'm very disappointed. I find that people were thinking not logically. I think they were thinking more on the racist thing, on the immigration, they concentrated on that too much."

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Related topics