BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government closely watched the British election in which Prime Minister Theresa May lost her majority but will not comment on that result while Britain tries to form a new government, a spokeswoman for Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

“The German government of course followed the election very carefully, as always with such close and important partners, but out of politeness and respect I won’t comment on the result while the process of forming a government is going on,” Ulrike Demmer told a government news conference on Friday.

She added that the EU is prepared for Brexit negotiations and there were guidelines and a timeframe for them, adding: “Nothing has changed about that ... In any case we hope the negotiations can begin quickly because the two-year period is already running and could only be extended unanimously.”