Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 24, 2019. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Britain knows that the European Union is willing to postpone the date on which it will leave the bloc, currently March 29, but preferably not beyond the European Parliament elections set for May, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Thursday.

“There is an awareness in Great Britain that the European Union is prepared to do everything to avoid a hard Brexit, also prepared if necessary to postpone the withdrawal date, but of course Great Britain must also want that,” Kurz said at the World Economic Forum in Davos.