Luxembourg - Three European Union foreign ministers are planning an urgent mission to Sri Lanka amidst concerns for the safety of civilians trapped by the fighting, diplomats announced on Monday as the bloc called for an immediate ceasefire.

The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Sweden, David Miliband, Bernard Kouchner and Carl Bildt respectively, are to fly to the embattled country on Wednesday in a bid to win safety for civilians caught between government and rebel forces.

Luxembourg - European Union foreign ministers on Monday extended the bloc's sanctions against Myanmar and its military junta until April 2010, calling for a new commitment to democracy in the country.

The 27-member EU currently has an arms embargo, trade restrictions and visa bans on Myanmar's leaders.

Luxembourg - Slovenia resisted European Union pressure on Monday to give immediate backing to a plan aimed at easing Croatia's EU membership path, officials at a meeting of EU foreign ministers said.

Slovenia has been blocking Croatia's EU bid in a row over the two neighbours' maritime border.

Last week EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn proposed a compromise which would see the two countries nominate five judges tasked with solving the problem. Croatia and many EU member states welcomed the proposal.

Luxembourg - Top European Union diplomats on Monday dismissed as "nonsense" a claim by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the EU is planning to build a sphere of influence in the former Soviet Union, just 24 hours before a meeting with him. On March 21, Lavrov said that the EU was trying to build a "sphere of influence" in Eastern Europe by setting up a so-called "Eastern Partnership" with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Tel Aviv - The European Union "underestimates the Iranian threat," Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said in remarks quoted Sunday. In an interview with the Ha'aretz daily as he wrapped up a visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Topolanek, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, added however that he believed that "at this very moment, there is no imminent threat of a war between Israel and Iran."

Israel regards Iran as its biggest existential threat, given Tehran's nuclear programme, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated statements that the Jewish state should be wiped off the map.

Prague - The Czech Republic's presidency of the European Union said Thursday it has cancelled Friday's EU accession meeting with Croatia over the Balkan country's unresolved border row with neighbouring EU member Slovenia.

The Brussels-based conference, postponed for the second time this year, would take place "subject to positive development" in the bilateral dispute, which has stalled Croatia's EU entry talks with the 27-member bloc.