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.

Prague - Three spectators were killed Saturday when a vehicle crashed into the audience at a car race in north-eastern Czech Republic, the race organizers said.

The Slovak race driver slid in a curve near the town of Stramberk, which sent him off the race track and into the spectators, local reports said.

The victims included a 38-year-old father and his 13-year-old son, the CTK news agency reported citing a police spokeswoman.

The driver was rushed to a hospital with a slight injury, a race spokesman said in a statement.

Prague - The leaders of the Czech Republic's two major rival political parties, outgoing Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and Social Democratic head Jiri Paroubek, agreed to hold early elections, government officials said Saturday.

"They met and agreed on early elections," Topolanek's spokeswoman, Jana Bartosova, told the German Press Agency dpa.

However, the spokeswoman would not comment on Czech media reports suggesting a general election could take place in October.

Hluboka Castle, Czech Republic - European Union foreign ministers were Saturday holding informal talks in the Czech Republic on the membership aspirations of the Western Balkans.

Of the seven countries, most of them formerly part of Yugoslavia, Croatia is next in line to join the bloc and aims to conclude membership negotiations by the end of this year.

But first, it must resolve an ugly border dispute with neighbouring Slovenia, which became an EU member in 2004 and is now blocking Croatia's bid.

Prague - Political talks in Prague on Friday left chances open for outgoing Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek to complete his term at the European Union's helm under a "restructured" cabinet.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus and opposition Social Democratic leader Jiri Paroubek, whose party ousted the government, debated an option of swearing in a "partially" reconstructed Topolanek cabinet, Klaus' office said in a statement.

Hluboka Castle, Czech Republic  - The European Union on Friday welcomed US President Barack Obama's revised strategy for Afghanistan and vowed to contribute to a "civilian surge" with more money and more trainers.

"(We heard) a very important speech, a very important analysis ... we have a lot of points in common," the EU's top foreign policy official, Javier Solana, told the German Press Agency dpa on the sidelines of a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers in the Czech Republic.