05/07/2018 (Agence Europe) – The Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, hopes that an agreement on the conditions for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union can be reached by the end of 2018. “The aim is to reach an agreement, but if this is not possible, we need to avoid a no-deal Brexit and continue negotiating”, he said in Vienna on Thursday 5 July, during a press trip of the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU. He did not clarify whether he would like to extend the two-year negotiating period set out in article 50 of the Treaty. Next week, Kurz will travel to Ireland and the United Kingdom, where he will meet the Prime Ministers of both countries and also the EU negotiator, Michel Barnier. (MB)