Beijing  - The EU's top diplomat called Monday on the Chinese government to resume talks with the Tibetan government-in-exile while welcoming a memorandum from Tibetan exiles on their vision of autonomy.

"For a long time, the Chinese wanted to see a written position," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said of the Tibetan proposal made during the latest round of talks in November.

Beijing - The European Union on Monday welcomed US President Barack Obama's invitation to a climate change forum for the world's major economies as well as his change in policy from his predecessor, who was criticized for obstructing anti-global-warming initiatives.

Hluboka Castle, Czech Republic  - Turkey and seven Western Balkan nations knocked on the European Union's door Saturday asking to be let, but found it bolted by France and Germany.

"There will be no enlargement if there is no Lisbon Treaty," said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner during an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in the Czech Republic.

That position was echoed by German foreign ministry officials, who said: "We will not be in a position to accept new member states in the EU without the Lisbon Treaty."

Hluboka Castle, Czech Republic - Neither Croatia, nor any other applicant country, will be able to join the European Union unless the bloc's reforming Lisbon Treaty is ratified, officials from France and Germany said Saturday.

"There will be no enlargement if there is no Lisbon Treaty," said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner during an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in the Czech Republic.

Hluboka Castle, Czech Republic  - Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller was taken to a hospital Saturday after he fell weak during a European Union meeting in the Czech Republic.

"He was not feeling well in the morning," Zuzana Opletalova, a spokeswoman for Czech Foreign Ministry, told German Press Agency dpa.

Check-ups at the Ceske Budejovice County Hospital showed that the minister had "nothing serious," Opletalova said.

Reykjavik - Iceland's former ruling party Friday signalled it would accept holding a national referendum on membership in the European Union but remains opposed to joining the bloc.

A broad majority of the Independence Party delegates backed that stance at a party conference. They further said there should be a second referendum on a possible membership agreement with the EU.

Citing the need to protect Icelandic interests, including its fishing waters, the party said it believes that "EU membership will not be in the interest of Iceland."