France's Macron, Spain's Sanchez welcome idea of UK rejoining EU after Burnham remarks

French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday welcomed the idea of the United Kingdom rejoining the European Union .

During a visit to Madrid while meeting with Sanchez, Macron reacted to the idea of a UK rejoin with two words in English: "Welcome back."

"If the British want to come back and if the prime minister is moving in that direction, I think that is very good news both for his country and for Europeans," Macron continued in French.

At the same time, Macron said the UK cannot take an a la carte approach to its relationship with the EU, while remaining outside the bloc.

"You cannot choose between the freedoms of the union and decide to take what suits us and not the rest," he said.

Sanchez said the UK's decision to leave the EU as a result of a referendum in 2016 is "a huge loss, both for the British population and for the whole European project."

The Spanish prime minister said if the UK indeed does try to rejoin the EU, "then of course Spain would applaud it and open its arms again to a brotherly people."

10 years after Brexit vote: What do young Britons want now?

Copyright for this text belongs to Deutsche Welle.