POLAND: The Taoiseach is among dozens of leaders from across Europe who will attend a two-day summit of the Council of Europe, starting in Warsaw today.
The council, which is distinct from the European Union, includes all 25 EU member states and 21 other countries in central and eastern Europe. The Strasbourg-based body runs the European Court of Human Rights and promotes political and economic reform, particularly in the post-communist states of eastern Europe.
Polish authorities have staged a massive security operation, with 10,000 police brought into Warsaw to protect the 2,000 visitors meeting in the Royal Palace.
Germany's Gerhard Schröder and Ukraine's Victor Yuschenko are among the leaders who will attend but Russia's President Vladimir Putin is staying away.
Russian media reports suggest that Mr Putin is boycotting the meeting because of harsh criticism from the Council of Europe of Moscow's human rights abuses in Chechnya and of the Russian authorities' clampdown on the Yokes oil group.
Poland's president Alexander Kwasniewski acknowledged last week that relations between Moscow and Warsaw had been affected by Poland's role in Ukraine's Orange Revolution.
"If this cooling in Polish-Russian relations is the cost of our engagement in resolving the Ukrainian crisis, then I say it made sense," he said.
This week's summit, only the third in the council's 56-year history, will seek to chart the organisation's future course following EU enlargement.
The leaders are expected to sign conventions on human trafficking, prevention of terrorism and the financing of terrorist Act.