Balkans to dominate EU foreign ministers' Salzburg agenda

The Salzburg meeting was initially presented by the Austrian EU presidency as a high-profile event as part of Vienna's priority to press ahead with the integration of Balkan countries into the EU.

But the jam-packed agenda of the gathering has been partly hijacked by current affairs, with the Palestinian Hamas election victory, the Iran nuclear dispute and the upcoming Belarusian and Ukrainian elections put on the schedule by Vienna for Friday.

On Ukraine, ministers will be briefed by the Austrian presidency on a recent meeting it had with Kiev, but despite the informal nature of the Salzburg talks "there will be no broad discussion on the future borders of the EU," said a European diplomat.

Western Balkans, cartoon row

The western Balkans are on the agenda for Saturday, with discussions set to be dominated by the future status of Kosovo and the demand by western Balkans countries for visa-free travel to the EU.

The discussions on the future status of Kosovo will start with a briefing given by Martti Ahtisaari, the UN's special envoy, with the president of Kosovo, Fatmir Sejdiu, also set to participate in the talks.

The new EU and UN high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schwarz-Schilling will be present as well, with Bosnian officials announcing that, with the help of Austria and Greece, Sarajevo will press for visa-free travel for its citizens to the EU.

Later on Saturday, Abdullah Gul, Turkey's foreign minister, will open a session on the dialogue between Europe and the muslim world.

Mr Gul is set to introduce his idea for an "Alliance of Civilisations" amid differing views of member states on how far the EU should go in publicly apologising for the Danish cartoons depicting Mohamed, which have strained ties between Europe and the Islamic world.

Finally, at the personal request of France's foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, ministers will also discuss the situation of child soldiers, primarily in Africa but also in states like Sri Lanka.

Mr Douste-Blazy is set to call for a common EU approach, a French spokesman said.