France's Macron wants EU to move quickly on Brexit talks

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron has called on the European Union to move forward quickly on Brexit talks after Britain holds a general election on Thursday.

Macron said EU members need to preserve “the method that has worked up to now, that is to say: unity.” He spoke Tuesday at a meeting in Paris with the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, at the presidential Elysee Palace.

The EU's heads of states and governments are meeting Thursday and Friday at a summit in Brussels. Macron called on the bloc to defend its interests “without yielding to pressure."

Michel said the EU leaders will discuss the bloc's future relationship with Britain on Friday.

“We will, of course, take into account the results of the (U.K.) election,” he said.

British voters go to the polls Thursday in a key parliament election that will affect the U.K.'s future ties with the bloc. Britain is now scheduled to leave the EU on Jan. 31.