UK parliament unlikely to vote for hard Brexit: Austrian chancellor

VIENNA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz believed that the UK parliament will not vote in favour of a so-called "hard Brexit" on Wednesday evening, following a renewed rejection of a Brexit deal on Tuesday.

The UK lawmakers are expected to vote on Wednesday on whether they want to rule out a no-deal option, meaning Britain leaving the European Union without a deal.

Kurz said should they vote in favour of allowing the hard Brexit option, "they can no longer be helped," Austria Press Agency reported.

A disorderly exit from the European Union would harm both sides, but the damage would be "many times higher" for the UK, he argued.

The chancellor reiterated that Austria is "very well" prepared for a possible hard Brexit.

The chancellor also addressed the issue of the upcoming European Parliament elections in May, saying nobody is interested in seeing the UK take part in voting should they still be part of the union.

As such, the shorter the time until an outcome is reached, the better, and this would ideally be a matter of weeks away rather than months, he added.