British voters decided to leave the European Union on Thursday, marking the biggest setback in the past decade for the European unity project.

British voters decided to leave the European Union on Thursday, marking the biggest setback in the past decade for the European unity project.

The old continent had a difficult time trying to digest the UK's departure from the EU, which will suffer heavy losses in the coming period despite the optimistic signals from some EU officials.

The old continent had a difficult time trying to digest the UK's departure from the EU.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, head of the Eurozone's group of finance ministers, said that Britain has chosen the path of instability by leaving the EU, while the Dutch finance minister said in The Hague: "We in the European Union have to make another choice," adding that "instability is the last thing we need here in Europe and in the eurozone." He stated that Britain's decision will not lead to any changes within the eurozone, stressing the determination of the single currency area to continue the path towards economic recovery, and Dijsselbloem expressed his expectations that financial markets and stock exchanges will return to stability quickly, ruling out a panic in Europe.

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In the immediate aftermath, European stocks closed lower today, pressured by sharp losses in bank stocks after the British vote to leave the European Union, the British pound fell to a 31-year low and the fall in stocks wiped about 650 billion euros ($726 billion) from the market value of listed European stocks.

European stocks closed lower today, pressured by sharp losses in bank stocks after the British vote in favor of leaving the European Union.

The Eurofirst 300 index of major European shares fell 6.6 %. The broader Stoxx Europe 600 fell seven % to 321.9 points, the biggest one-day loss since 2008, and Italy's MIB and Spain's IBEX fell 12.5 % and 12.4 % respectively, led mainly by bank stocks.

Europe's banking sector index lost 14.5 % to lead the continent's losing sectors, British banks Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds fell between 17 and 20 %, the European insurance sector index fell 11.3 % and the auto index fell 8.7 percent, the British Financial Times 100 index closed off some of its losses, down 3.2 %.

The British Financial Times 100 index closed off some of its losses, down 3.2 %.