DHAKA: EU states have urged Britain to hold speedy talks on leaving the bloc after it voted to end its membership in a historic referendum.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said negotiations should begin as ‘soon as possible’, reports the BBC.

He made the comments after an urgent meeting of the six EU founder members to discuss the decision.

British PM David Cameron has said he will step down by October to allow his successor to conduct talks.

The six countries attending the summit in Berlin - Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands - first joined forces in the 1950s and still form the core of the EU.

‘We say here together, this process should get under way as soon as possible so that we are not left in limbo but rather can concentrate on the future of Europe,’ Steinmeier said.

His Dutch counterpart Bert Koenders said the continent could not accept a political vacuum, saying ‘this will not be business as usual’.

Moreover, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says she will seek ‘immediate discussions’ with Brussels to ‘protect Scotland’s place in the EU’.

A petition calling for a second referendum on UK’s membership of the EU has gained more than one million signatures.

There are warnings British financial institutions could lose their prized access to the EU if the UK leaves the common market.

The first summit of EU leaders with no British representation will be held on Wednesday, a day after Cameron holds talks with members.

Global stock markets and the pound fell heavily on the news of the so-called ‘Brexit’, while credit rating agency Moody’s cut the UK's outlook to ‘negative’.

BDST: 1758 HRS, JUN 25, 2016
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