The leaders of the eurozone’s biggest economies held talks yesterday in the aftermath of Britain’s shock decision to leave the European Union and said Europe had to turn its back on populists who blamed Brussels for all its problems.
 Speaking on an aircraft carrier off the Italian island of Ventotene, Germany’s Angela Merkel, France’s Francois Hollande and Italy’s Matteo Renzi issued calls for closer security co-operation and better opportunities for young people.
 In a meeting heavy on symbolism, the three leaders visited Ventotene to lay a wreath on the tomb of Altiero Spinelli, an Italian intellectual seen as a founding father of European unity.
 They then boarded the Garibaldi, which is in the front line of an EU mission to combat people traffickers who have carried thousands of migrants to Europe across the Mediterranean.
 “For many populists, Europe is to blame for everything that goes wrong,” Renzi said at the joint news conference before the leaders sat down for talks aboard the ship.
 “Immigration, it’s Europe’s fault, the economy is bad, it’s Europe’s fault. But that is not the case.”
 The meeting was designed to lay the groundwork for an EU summit in Bratislava next month.
Yesterday’s talks marked the beginning of a week of meetings for Merkel with other European governments that will see her travel to four countries and receive leaders from another eight.
 “We respect Great Britain’s decision but we also want to make clear that the other 27 (member states) are banking on a safe and prospering Europe,” the German chancellor said.