ITALY: Italy will today attempt to kick-start its six-month European Union presidency, against a backdrop of simmering resentment over last week's "Nazi" jibe by Prime Minister Mr Silvio Berlusconi.
The Italian foreign minister, Mr Franco Frattini, will lead a team of 16 ministers arriving in Brussels from Rome this week to set out their priorities for the presidency.
Mr Frattini will highlight, in a speech at the European parliament today, the need to repair European Union-US relations and to develop links with Russia.
But he may come under further pressure from members of the parliament over the now infamous remark by Mr Berlusconi to a German deputy last week.
Mr Pat Cox, president of the European parliament, is still seeking a formal apology from Mr Berlusconi, and is expected to press his case this week.
Yesterday Mr Martin Schulz, the German member of the European parliament whose attack on Mr Berlusconi's democratic credentials prompted the Italian premier to compare him to a Nazi concentration camp guard, said he expected an apology.
In his speech to the parliament, Mr Frattini will set out an Italian approach to EU foreign policy, particularly the desire to improve relations with "near neighbours" in north Africa and countries of the former Soviet Union.