As the UK is bracing itself for holding a decisive referendum on the EU membership, former ministers from several European countries say Britain should be punished if it leaves the EU, so that other exits will be discouraged.

The politicians, including former prime ministers of Poland and Italy warned that many of the freedoms that the UK would achieve by leaving the EU amount to a mirage, as most of them including free trade agreements , the movement of workers and the conduct of UK financial services would still be subject to direct or indirect EU influence.

Addressing an event seeking to simulate the UK-EU negotiations over the terms of the UK’s continued membership, the politicians also said the UK exit would provoke forces in other European countries, like France and Spain, to take the same path.

Britain was also warned that it would not be able to cherry-pick its best deals, and might find UK citizens inside the EU at a serious disadvantage with questionable legal status.

“There is no such thing as a free lunch. Brexit is something which does not only affect your country but our country….The cherry-picking after torturing us for months is not acceptable,” The former German Deputy Finance Minister Steffen Kampeter warned.

EU membership has long been a contentious topic in Britain. Pro-Europeans warn the move would not only hurt the economy but could possibly trigger the break-up of the kingdom by prompting another Scottish independence vote.

Opponents of EU membership say Britain would prosper outside the bloc. A number of recent opinion polls have suggested that a growing number of Britons now favor the break up from the EU.