MOSCOW, July 20 /TASS/. Brexit is a long process, which will take from two to three years at least, Nikolai Topornin, Assistant Professor at the European Law deparment of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), told journalists at the Moscow-London video conference on Wednesday.
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"It’s not the question of whether Britain pulls out of the European Union or not. Britain will withdraw from the EU anyway because no one will be able to revise the results of the past referendum or call in a new one," Topornin said.
According to him, the question is when and on what terms the country will leave the EU.
Topornin said that the withdrawal procedures and regulations were defined in Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. "It [Article 50] provides for a long exit period from EU - up to 2 years according to the standard procedure but this deadline can be extended," the Russian expert explained.
"Therefore, the Brexit process may last from 3 to 4 years. Definitely, it will not happen before 2019," Topornin stressed.
A referendum on Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union took place on June 23: 52% (17.47 million people) voted for Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Britain’s new Prime Minister Theresa May said her government would not revise the referendum’s results. However, she said that article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty on EU could not be applied before yearend.