Anybody with a brain would be surprised when a citizen of a non-EU country becomes "president of the EU"
This referendum is not binding. The government certainly isn't going to ignore the result, but legally it isn't required to act on it.
If you're talking about Schauble (German finance minister) I think his point was that getting Britain into a similar relationship to the EU as Norway or Switzerland has would entirely defeat the point of leaving. EFTA is actually a bit of a misnomer, as it goes far beyond free trade. It includes freedom of movement and a large part, perhaps the majority, of regulations the EU has set.
Sovereignty and anti-immigration sentiment were important motivations for Brexit voters. Becoming an EFTA member goes against both, plus it actually removes the UK's say in those regulations.
If it's not Schauble, I wonder who you're thinking of, and wether or not you actually paid attention to what he or she said...instead of just going by the headlines.
Ten years seems like a fairly short time. But it could happen, and the EU could change a lot in that time - for better or worse. It seems unlikely though that the UK will get as many opt-out clauses as they currently have.
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