Officials In The U.S And Europe Worry Brexit Will Distract From Security Concerns

WASHINGTON/ISTANBUL — Security officials and experts said in the wake of the Brexit vote that they did not expect intelligence cooperation between the U.S. and its transatlantic partners to shift fundamentally, but expressed fears that tussles over Britain’s exit from the European Union could distract key resources needed to keep member states safe in the midst of a fierce security threat from ISIS and its supporters.

“It’s a disaster for the bureaucrats. Resolving many of the issues will be a waste of time on the higher levels that could be put to better use,” one official in the French defense ministry, who works in intelligence and research, told BuzzFeed News. “Ministers and other top officials will be forced to deal with issues related to the U.K. instead of talking about things that matter, like terrorism, intelligence sharing, and even economic security issues that are less sexy but probably more important.”

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