The Latest: Germany: UK will remain close friend post-Brexit

Germany's Foreign Ministry says Britain will remain a "close partner and friend" despite the decision to leave the European Union, but that "being a close friend is not the same as being part of the family."

Croatia's prime minister says that his country will be the least affected by the British exit from the European Union because it was the last to join in 2013.

The Hina news agency also quoted Plenkovic as saying that Brexit was a "big, huge mistake" whose negative consequences will be felt primarily in Britain.

A powerful European Union commissioner says that the British letter to trigger two years of Brexit proceedings "is a negative message for Europe as a whole, for the U.K. especially."

The British pound is facing some selling pressure before the formal triggering of the country's two-year process to leave the European Union.

With just hours to go before the start of the Brexit process, the pound was 0.4 percent lower at $1.2398.

Since the country voted to leave the EU in a referendum last June, the currency has suffered a steep decline, losing around 20 percent of its value as traders fret over the potential economic impact of the decision to leave the world's largest trading bloc.

Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA, thinks the pound is "likely to remain quite volatile" throughout Wednesday's trading session.

[...] he says that following some weakness in the run-up to the triggering of the Article 50 process that "it is worth being prepared for a possible case of traders selling the news and buying the fact today."