Brussels - The European Union's top justice official Wednesday welcomed US President Barack Obama's decision to temporarily suspend prosecutions at the US's controversial Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba.

"I am extremely pleased that one of the first actions of President Obama has been to turn the page on this sad episode of the Guantanamo prison," said EU Justice, Freedom and Security Commissioner Jacques Barrot.

Brussels  - European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso on Tuesday called on US president-elect Barack Obama and European leaders to deepen their transatlantic ties at a time of "great challenges".

Brussels - European Union Aid Commissioner Louis Michel said Tuesday he planned to travel on a humanitarian mission to Gaza and Israel later this week.

In a statement, Michel said the purpose of his two-day visit would be to "see for myself the suffering of the civilian populations in both Gaza and southern Israel."

Brussels - European Union finance ministers were meeting in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss how to mitigate one of the bloc's sharpest economic downturns in decades.

"This is one of the worst crises," said German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck.

"We can't avoid a recession, but we can try and limit it," he said shortly after his arrival in Brussels.

Brussels- European Union foreign ministers are to meet twice with top officials from the Middle East this week in Brussels to discuss an international response to the ongoing crisis in Gaza, the bloc's Czech presidency announced Monday.

The first meeting, a working dinner, will be held on Wednesday evening and will bring together the foreign ministers of the EU's 27 member states and Israel, the presidency announced in a statement.

Brussels - NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Monday predicted another difficult year for the alliance's peace-keeping operations in Afghanistan and called on the local government to step up its fight against corruption and drugs.

NATO's secretary general said "2009 will certainly not be easy in Afghanistan.

"There will certainly be more violence, including because we put more forces on the ground," de Hoop Scheffer said at an annual reception with the press in Brussels.