Hollande to meet May after calling for speedy Brexit

Paris (dpa) - French President Francois Hollande was scheduled to meet British Prime Minister Theresa May for talks on Thursday, after repeating calls for Britain to formally trigger the process to leave the European Union as soon as possible.May‘s visit to Paris follows talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin during her first foreign trip as Britain‘s leader. She succeeds David Cameron, who stepped down after failing to convince constituents of his "Remain" position in a June 23 referendum on Britain‘s EU membership.London‘s new government must now invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to trigger a two-year period to negotiate Britain‘s departure from the 28-member bloc.Hollande and other French leaders have called for formal negotiations on Britain‘s future relationship with the bloc to begin as soon as possible."The decision was taken - it cannot be postponed or annulled. The consequences must be drawn," Hollande was quoted by AFP news agency as saying earlier this month.Uncertainty about Britain-EU relations has been economically costly and is expected to continue to negatively impact growth.May had said in an earlier statement that she was "determined that Britain will make a success of leaving the European Union." One of her goals is to reduce net migration levels.May is scheduled to have a working dinner with Hollande on Thursday evening.