Brussels - The European Union has carried out raids on companies which

Prague - The European Union sees a ceasefire in the Middle East on the horizon, an EU official said after the bloc's unsuccessful mission returned late Tuesday to Prague.

"We are suspecting a dawn, but it is not here yet," said Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country chairs the EU until June 30.

The EU mission achieved little. Israel rejected the EU's call for an immediate ceasefire or at least a lull in fighting that would ease distribution of humanitarian aid in the embattled Gaza Strip.

Brussels - The current row over gas supplies between Russia and Ukraine risks "discrediting" both countries as reliable energy partners, European Union diplomats meeting in Brussels said Monday.

At the emergency meeting of EU national representatives, "more and more countries" said that "Russia and Ukraine are discrediting themselves as reliable energy sources," an EU diplomat close to the talks told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

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Brussels - The European Union on Monday sent a fact-finding mission to Kiev in a bid to clarify the situation surrounding Russia's shut-off of gas supplies to Ukraine, EU officials confirmed.

The delegation of top officials from the Czech Republic, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, and the European Commission, the EU executive, is set to hold talks with Ukrainian political leaders and representatives of the gas industry, a presidency spokesman told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Prague/Brussels - Israel's land attack on the Gaza Strip was expected, but cannot justify the suffering inflicted on the civilian population, the European Union's presidency said in a statement Sunday.

"Launching land operations by the Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip is not surprising, there were indications that Israel had been considering this step. But even the indisputable right of the state to defend itself does not allow actions which largely affect civilians," the Czech government said.

The Czech Republic currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, having taken over the role from France on Thursday.