Associated Press
By PAUL AMES
European Union ministers plan to try their hand at Middle East peacemaking Monday before opening a week of intense negotiations to resolve several internal disputes within their 15-nation bloc.
The EU has invited Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and top Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath for talks in an effort to halt resurgent violence in the region.
The pair are scheduled to meet Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, who holds the EU's rotating presidency, and EU foreign ministers gathered here. European officials, however, expressed little hope of a breakthrough.
``We realize how difficult and fragile the situation is,'' said Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, who will chair Monday's ministerial meeting.
The ministers will also look at the EU's role in the war against terrorism, and plans to help stabilize and rebuild Afghanistan now the Taliban have fallen.
The meeting was originally called to prepare for the EU's year-end summit to be held in Brussels Friday and Saturday.
To ensure the summit runs smoothly, the EU foreign ministers will try to overcome differences on various issues.
Italy will be under pressure to drop its objections to the creation of an EU-wide arrest warrant covering a wide range of crimes, which other EU nations say is an essential tool in Europe's fight against terrorism.
The government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wants a more limited mandate, excluding financial crimes, but it has been put on notice that the other 14 could go ahead with the wider warrant leaving Italy isolated.
Greece will be in the spotlight Monday when delegates discuss a proposed 60,000-strong EU military force to be used for peacekeeping and humanitarian missions.
Other EU nations are hoping to overcome Greek doubts about a deal hammered out with Turkey that would let the force use NATO facilities and hardware.
Turkey, as a member of NATO but not the EU, had sought to prevent the European force from using NATO assets unless it gets a say in the force's operations.
Convinced access to the NATO assets is essential, British and American negotiators worked out a compromise with Turkey which they hoped would clear the way for the force. But Greece must first be convinced that the deal does not give too much influence to its traditional rival Turkey.
EU officials will be looking for France to allay concerns about its commitment to the Union's plan to start bringing in new central and eastern European members starting in 2004.
Recent comments from French officials have sparked worries that Paris is seeking to delay the EU expansion, by making front-runners like Hungary and Slovenia wait until laggards Bulgaria and Romania are ready to join.
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