Moving on: why the EU is not missing Britain that much

On the 5th anniversary of Brexit, commentators reflect on the EU’s success at rallying together after Britain’s exit, writes Jennifer Rankin in Brussels

A sculpture depicting Britain's then prime minister Theresa May in December 2018. File picture: AP Frank Augstein

On the night of June 23, 2016, a storm broke over Brussels. Rain poured, thunder rolled and lightning flashed over the headquarters of the European Union’s institutions.

Then in the small hours came a political thunderbolt almost no one had forecast: the UK had voted to leave the union. Five years on, the Brexit tempest has subsided – in Brussels, if not in London.