EU Remains Unaware of UK Position on Brexit Talks – Mogherini

The European Union is still unaware of London's position on the upcoming negotiations on its departure from the bloc, even though almost a year has passed since the Brexit referendum, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Friday at the high-level 2017 Conference on Defense and Security in Prague (DESCOP).

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) – On Thursday, the United Kingdom held early parliamentary elections, which were called by the country's Prime Minister Theresa May to overcome "division in Westminster" ahead of the upcoming negotiations with Brussels. May expected to increase the number of her Conservative Party’s seats in the parliament in order to avoid additional problems during the talks. To be the ruling party, May's party needed to get at least 326 seats. However, no party received the absolute majority of seats in parliament and the election has resulted in a hung parliament.

"One year after the referendum we still do not know the British position in the negotiations on Brexit and it seems difficult to predict when that we will because democracy often requires time and I very much respect that, it’s a complex process," Mogherini said.

The UK citizens voted to leave the European Union at the referendum on June 23, 2016, and on March 29, London officially started the process of withdrawing from the bloc by triggering the Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

The Brexit talks were set to start on June 19 with UK Brexit secretary David Davis' meeting European Union's chief negotiator Michel Barnier. However, earlier in the day, Barnier wrote on Twitter that Brexit negotiations should begin when the United Kingdom is "ready," since the election had thrown May's majority into disarray.