Austrian Presidential Candidate Hofer 'Saddened' by UK Decision to Quit EU

Austrian presidential candidate from the Freedom Party (FPO) Norbert Hofer told Sputnik in an exclusive interview he was sad to learn the United Kingdom had chosen to exit the European Union since it was the bloc's important partner.

VIENNA (Sputnik) — He called on EU politicians not to "close doors" to negotiations with Britain on UK-EU post-Brexit relations.

"I am quite saddened by the UK leaving the EU because the UK was always a critical partner with correcting abilities, however, we should accept that the people of the UK had a democratic vote and should respect the results," Hofer said.

"We need to have positive negotiations to establish the grounds to have the UK on board as a strong economic partner," Hofer stated.

The United Kingdom made a decision to leave the European Union on June 23 in a referendum, where almost 52 percent of the country's population voted to quit the bloc.

Britain has not yet started official procedures to cease its EU membership. UK Prime Minister Theresa May said on October 2 the country would trigger Article 50 to initiate leaving the bloc by the end of March 2017.