DAVOS, Switzerland – Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron has slammed any moves to forge a United States of Europe. Cameron, who has shaken up Europe's political landscape by offering to let citizens vote on whether to leave the 27-nation European Union, says forcing countries into a single entity would be a “great mistake.” Speaking Thursday at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos, Cameron says Britain would stand against any moves to shoehorn countries into a centralized political union. Many politicians, particularly those in the 17 countries that use the euro, think closer political ties are needed. Some even think something resembling the United States should be Europe's end-game. A number of European leaders have accused Cameron of putting the bloc at risk to deal with domestic political problems. The leaders of Ireland, Italy and The Netherlands Thursday urged Britain to stay in the European Union. Speaking on a top-level panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte warned that outside the 27-member bloc Britain would be “an island somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, somewhere between the United States and Europe.” “It would not be connected with either of these two, so I think it's vital for us all that they stay in,” added Rutte. Cameron's promise to hold a public vote on whether Britain should remain part of the European Union has somewhat hijacked the agenda in Davos, previously expected to consider ways out of the three-year economic crisis. Addressing the world's top business and political elite earlier, Cameron denied Britain planned to “turn our backs” on Europe and Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny said that the EU as a union would be stronger with London involved. “The EU will continue to be stronger if Britain is part of it,” he said on the same panel. “Whatever happens, I would like to see that Britain would remain central to the European Union. It's very important in the global sense.” Kenny also stressed that “five years is an eternity” in politics and urged Europe to use the relative calm on the financial markets to push forward reforms to bolster its economy. Cameron pledged to hold the referendum by the end of 2017 if re-elected. “What you need now is clarity,” Kenny said, adding that Ireland had held referendums on several European issues in the past 40 years, with a “positive” response every time. Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti said he was confident the British people would choose to continue their tricky relationship with Brussels, because turning their back on the EU would mean losing several economic advantages. “I believe that when the moment comes, the UK people will say ‘yes' because... if they say ‘no', they would have to get out of the single market,” said Monti. – Agencies
