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Mr Prodi, who had two spells in power, condemned the lack of leadership and strategy in Brussels and admitted the Europe he once dreamed of was dead.

His comments came in an interview with Italys Quotidiano newspaper in the same week Theresa May laid out her plans for a hard Brexit which would sever all existing ties with the EU including the single market and customs union.

The 77-year-old said: The EU has no strategies and there is no leader to follow.

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The Europe I dreamed of is dead. Now we can only do one thing: pray

Romano Prodi

"The Europe I dreamed of is dead. But I hope the crisis will wake us up. Now we can only do one thing: pray.

Mr Prodi said did not have great hopes about the future of the European Union which he said was increasingly divided by national and political interests.

And he said Brexit had accelerated the process of detachment from Brussels.

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He told Quotidiano: I was disappointed by Brexit but not surprised. The new thing is the American encouragement to Brexit.

It is an unprecedented and inappropriate interference in my opinion. From a political point of view the fact that the future US President supports Brexit says a lot.

On the future of the EU, Mr Prodi called for "a single strategy".

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Countries that are in the European Union

He said: The real problem is that, once again, there will not be a common policy.

We would need a real leader who would put himself in other peoples shoes.

"Whoever leads a political coalition and a group of countries must consider the interests of all the members. I am talking about Angela Merkel."

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'We can only pray!' Former Italy PM admits European Union 'he once dreamed of' is DEAD - Express.co.uk