Italy: European Union foreign ministers are expected to criticise Mr Silvio Berlusconi's behaviour at a recent EU-Russia summit when they meet in Brussels today, writes Denis Staunton, in Brussels
Italy, which holds the EU Presidency, is due to brief the ministers on the outcome of the summit and some ministers will use the opportunity to condemn the Italian Prime Minister.
The Commission and EU foreign policy chief Mr Javier Solana have already criticised Mr Berlusconi's remarks at the end of the summit, when he defended Mr Vladimir Putin's human rights record in Chechnya. Mr Berlusconi also defended the handling of the arrest of Russia's richest businessman, Mr Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Senior EU diplomats fear that Mr Berlusconi could depart from agreed EU policy again today when he hosts the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, in Rome. Mr Sharon's visit comes ahead of tomorrow's EU-Israel Association Council in Brussels, at which EU ministers will criticise Israel's construction of a security fence that cuts into Palestinian territory.
The EU will seek to persuade the Israeli government to abandon its boycott of the EU's envoy in the Middle East, Mr Mark Otte. Israeli ministers are refusing to meet Mr Otte in protest against his continued diplomatic contact with the Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat.
Today's foreign ministers' meeting will discuss the situation in Iraq and assess progress towards a handover of power to Iraqi authorities. Tomorrow, the ministers will consider new proposals from the Italian presidency aimed at facilitating agreement on the text of the EU's constitutional treaty.
The ministers will discuss the constitutional treaty again next week when they meet in Naples for a three-day conclave. Italy hopes to secure agreement on a final text of the treaty at next month's EU summit in Brussels.
Few diplomats expect the final shape of any compromise on institutional arrangements to emerge until the final hours of the summit. Poland and Spain have shown little sign of weakening in their resolve to maintain the complicated system of voting in the Council of Ministers agreed at Nice. Most other countries favour replacing the system of weighted votes with a "double majority" of half the member-states representing at least three-fifths of the EU's population.