If Britain rejects deal again, hard Brexit looms closer - Austria's Kurz

Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Friday he hoped the withdrawal agreement negotiated between Britain and the remaining European Union states would now pass the British parliament after EU leaders granted Britain extra time. Arriving for the second day of a summit dominated by the race to agree a delay to Brexit, Kurz said a disorderly Brexit would become more likely if the British House of Commons rejected the withdrawal agreement for a third time.

"If there isn't a majority then a hard Brexit will once again move a step closer," he told reporters. Leaders agreed that a longer delay would be possible if Britain participated in May's European Parliament elections, but Kurz expressed doubts over this. "If a country is leaving the EU, then it would be more than just strange if they still took part in the European elections," he said. (Reporting by Thomas Escritt; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)