US President George W Bush is expected to come under pressure from European leaders today over the controversial issue of Guantanamo Bay.
The US detention camp in Cuba will be discussed in Vienna, Austria during an EU-US summit meeting.
Last week Austrian foreign minister Ursula Plassnik, whose government holds the rotating EU presidency,
said that nobody should be placed in a position where there is a legal vacuum with no legal rules.
"Human rights must be respected," she added in a reference to the detention centre, which houses 450 inmates that the US has classified as illegal combatants and detained without trial. Several EU governments have already called for the closure of Guantánamo.
Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said : "If Europe and America go hand in hand, then I think we can actually achieve something,"
But he added: "We cannot have an area where law does not apply. Under no circumstances can torture be applied ... It needs to be said."
Anti-Bush protests are expected to take place and a massive security operation has begun. A police squad used a remote-control robot to blow up abandoned suitcases and other suspicious packages, including one that had been taped to an electricity junction box and had wires and an antenna poking out of it and another containing wires and cans, officials said. Experts found no signs of explosives.
Mr Bush's visit dominated radio call-in shows today, with many Austrians bristling at the tight security and annoyed at the pomp surrounding his arrival.
Mr Bush plans to stress that the US and Europe must stand firm in pressing Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program in order to qualify for an incentives package aimed at containing Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
A package of incentives was offered to Iran early this month, and the US has said it will join European talks with Iran if it agrees to suspend its uranium enrichment programme.
Transatlantic co-operation in areas such as energy, economics and security will also be discussed.
European Commission president José Manuel Barroso has confirmed that he will raise the thorny issue of visa reciprocity with President Bush at the EU-US summit.
Currently US citizens can travel throughout the 25 EU states without obtaining a visa, while the US imposes restrictions on nationals from 10 EU states.
Citizens of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Greece, Malta and Cyprus must obtain a visa before travelling to the US.
EU diplomats say that Mr Barroso is frustrated by the refusal of the US to lift the restrictions following positive signals on the issue given by Mr Bush last year on a trip to Slovakia.
Meanwhile, the EU and US will sign a new co-operation agreement on third-level education, discuss ongoing talks aimed at creating an open skies agreement for the airline industry and sign an anti-piracy agreement designed to boost intellectual property protection.