European Union commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left, and Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka arrive for a family photo during the Conference on Defense and Security on Friday in Prague. | MICHAL CIZEK/AFP/Getty Images EU chuckles at May’s misfortune, braces for trouble Electoral setback for the Tories complicates Brexit outlook for Brussels.

PRAGUE — There was Schadenfreude, for sure, but no trash talk — not yet.

As the world digested the news that U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May had lost her majority in a snap election she called hoping to strengthen her hand in the upcoming Brexit negotiations, the EU could hardly resist a chuckle.

But now, facing deep uncertainty over what the inconclusive result means for the Brexit negotiations — Will there be a long delay? Will the U.K. take a new, hard line? Or interpret the result as backing for a soft Brexit? — there was little cause to celebrate for senior EU officials.

Instead, in public at least they took the high road, expressing hope that the U.K. would be able to get its act together and come to the negotiation table as soon as possible. Privately, EU officials reacted with consternation that an already tough situation just got tougher.

'No negotiations'

European Council President Donald Tusk even expressed worry about an outcome generally referred to as "going over the cliff" — that the U.K. would end up leaving the bloc without a negotiating withdrawal agreement by March 2019, the two-year deadline set in the EU treaties.

"We don't know when Brexit talks start," Tusk posted on Twitter. "We know when they must end. Do your best to avoid a 'no deal' as result of 'no negotiations'."

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was a bit more optimistic. "I do strongly hope that Britain will stay ready to open negotiations," Juncker said at a news conference in Prague, where he was attending a conference on defense and security. "As far as the Commission is concerned we can open negotiations in the morning at half past nine. So we are waiting for visitors coming from London."

Earlier Juncker had told POLITICO that he believed the election outcome would complicate the Brexit talks and couldn't resist a slight jab at May and her "strong and stable" campaign slogan. “We are ready to start negotiations,” Juncker said. "I hope that the British will be able to form as soon as possible, a stable government. I don’t think that things now have become easier but we are ready.”

At the same time, if Brussels was hoping that Britons would quickly discover they were better off before Brexit, the political disarray in London could hardly have illustrated that point better. At a time of vexing external threats, particularly terrorism, Britain now had to deal with a thoroughly self-inflicted headache.

EU officials had initially praised May's decision to call a snap election, anticipating she would win an overwhelming mandate that would bring clarity and predictability to the Brexit negotiations and give her the political strength needed to make tough concessions to the EU that might not be popular at home.

That has now all gone up in smoke.

Brexit distractions

While some EU officials pushed on Friday to stick to the original plan to start Brexit talks this month, the bloc's chief negotiator Michel Barnier adopted a more conciliatory, pragmatic approach and urged patience. Barnier has to sit across the table after all, and his approach reflected a basic reality: it is impossible to negotiate when your counter-party's goals are unclear.

In a way, the British election result also validated the decision by EU officials to try to spend little time on Brexit, and instead focus on bread-and-butter issues that voters really care about. One miscalculation by May and her Tories seemed to be in tricking themselves into thinking Brexit was as big a priority for voters as for politicians. It was not.

“There is no doubt Brexit will happen, but things have become more complicated. Europe must now wait for things to become clearer in the U.K.” — Pierre Moscovici

At the security conference in Prague, Juncker and other senior EU officials, including Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen, foreign policy chief Federica Mogerini and Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska, who oversees the single market and defense procurement issues, stayed focused on their push for greater military cooperation within the EU.

Noting the bloc's combined military spending and capabilities, Mogherini boldly stated: "Are we a superpower? If we are together, we are!"

Juncker, too, stressed his message that Europe is stronger together, as the sum of its parts — which has also been his main rejoinder to the U.K. over Brexit.

"Even our biggest military powers — and I could count them on one, maximum two, fingers — cannot conquer all the challenges and threats alone," Juncker said in his speech at the conference.

Some senior EU officials denied there was even the slightest sense of satisfaction in the U.K.'s political turmoil.

"Leaving aside that this is a disaster for the Tories and that no one knows what comes next, we need a functioning government that can negotiate Great Britain's exit," said EU Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger. "The referendum still stands. No one is questioning it. The British will push ahead with the negotiations but with a weakened negotiating partner there's a danger that the talks don't go well for either side."

Deadline holds

Pierre Moscovici, European commissioner for economic and financial affairs, noted in an interview in Paris that there was no clarity on what positions the U.K. might take in the Brexit talks given the surge in political support for Labour and its leader Jeremy Corbyn.

“Corbyn campaigned on a softer version of Brexit,” Moscovici said. “The vote shows that the differences between right and left still matters”

“There is no doubt Brexit will happen, but things have become more complicated,” he added. “Europe must now wait for things to become clearer in the U.K.”

Across the EU, other leaders echoed the desire for swift and successful talks. Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka who joined Juncker at the news conference in Prague noted sharply that in nearly a year after the U.K.'s Brexit referendum, the British were still not ready to negotiate their departure.

"During that time, the British government has not been practically capable to open negotiations with the EU," Sobotka said. "The European Commission is ready to start negotiations immediately and it’s a two year deadline. I don’t think we should talk about some prolongation of the deadline."

Pierre Briançon in Paris and Matthew Karnitschnig in Berlin contributed reporting.