BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Union should try to limit the fallout from Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday, conceding that some damage was inevitable.

“This is an incision for the European Union, it’s an unfortunate event - Britain’s decision,” Merkel told a joint news conference with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico and Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka in Berlin.

“We want to limit the damage. But there will naturally be some negative impact,” Merkel said, adding that it was more important that the remaining 27 EU member states stick together and improve the competitiveness of the bloc.