GROVELLING Merkel and Hollande launch thinly-veiled ATTACK on Brexit

GROVELLING Merkel and Hollande launch thinly-veiled ATTACK on Brexit

The grovelling heads of state warned EU member-states “not to close in on yourselves” in a thinly-veiled reference to Brexit campaigners.

The Europhile German Chancellor and French President said “the forces of division” threatened the future of the Brussels club.

Mrs Merkel and Mr Hollande spoke out as they commemorated the centenary of the Battle of Verdun – one of the bloodiest episodes in the First World War.

The grovelling heads of state warned EU member-states “not to close in on yourselves” in a thinly-veiled reference to Brexit campaigners.

The Europhile German Chancellor and French President said “the forces of division” threatened the future of the Brussels club.

Mrs Merkel and Mr Hollande spoke out as they commemorated the centenary of the Battle of Verdun – one of the bloodiest episodes in the First World War.

Three hundred thousand French and German soldiers perished over the course of the 10-month battle – and Mr Hollande invoked its grim memory in an attempt to convince Europeans to “protect our common home”.

The President said: “Our sacred destiny is written in the ravaged soil of Verdun.

“It can be stated in a few words: we should love our country, but we should protect our common home, Europe, without which we would be exposed to the storms of history.”

300,000 French and German soldiers perished over the course of the 10-month battle – and Hollande invoked its grim memory in an attempt to convince Europeans to “protect our common home”.

The beleaguered President said: “Our sacred destiny is written in the ravaged soil of Verdun.

“It can be stated in a few words: we should love our country, but we should protect our common home, Europe, without which we would be exposed to the storms of history.”

He also claimed that “the principle of the free movement of people and goods” – which Leave campaigners argue has created a migration nightmare for the UK – was among the EU’s most important.

Mrs Merkel, whose government has welcomed more than a million migrants to Germany over the past year, added: “If we reason only in national terms, we will not be able to progress. This is true for managing Europe’s debt crisis, and also for welcoming refugees.”

But Mrs Merkel's grip on power is growing ever weaker, with rebellion growing across the country against her controversial immigration policies.

Brexit campaigners have claimed the migrant crisis will get worse and EU bureaucracy will continue to cost hardworking Britons thousands of pounds a week unless the UK votes to Leave.

Mrs Merkel and Mr Hollande made their passionate appeal as part of a solemn tribute to those who died or were left missing or wounded at Verdun – considered as important to French and German history as the Somme is to the Britain.

Both leaders laid wreaths before the Douaumont Ossuary, which holds the unidentified remains of more than 100,000 soldiers.