President Obama Urges Britain To Remain In The European Union..... The president said Britain’s EU membership has helped make the world freer, richer and better able to tackle everything from Russian aggression to terrorism.

 04/22/2016 04:38 am ET

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama made an impassioned appeal on Friday for Britain to remain in the European Union, saying membership had magnified Britain’s place in the world and made the bloc stronger and more outward looking.

President Obama

Fearful that a British exit could weaken the West, Obama arrived in London to applaud Britain’s EU membership which he said had helped make the world freer, richer and better able to tackle everything from Russian aggression to terrorism. Praising Britain’s “outsized” influence in the world, Obama invoked the interlinked history of the two countries and the tens of thousands of Americans lying in European war graves as his reason for speaking as “a friend” on the June 23 referendum.

“The European Union doesn’t moderate British influence - it magnifies it,” he wrote in an article placed on page 20 of the eurosceptic Daily Telegraph newspaper under the headline “As your friend, I tell you that the EU makes Britain even greater.”

“The United States sees how your powerful voice in Europe ensures that Europe takes a strong stance in the world, and keeps the EU open, outward looking, and closely linked to its allies on the other side of the Atlantic”.

Obama is due to meet U.S. embassy personnel and families before a lunch at Windsor Castle with Queen Elizabeth, who celebrated her 90th birthday on Thursday, and her husband Prince Philip. Obama is scheduled to hold talks afterward with Prime Minister David Cameron, followed by a news conference. more