EU to work on security strategy

European Union foreign ministers have agreed to draft the first joint security strategy, setting out a plan for combating threats, as they begin to put behind them the bitter divisions caused by Iraq.

The ministers asked Javier Solana, the head of EU foreign policy, to start work on a security strategy to guide the EU through future crises at an informal meeting over the weekend in Greece.

The document is expected to address threats including terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, failed states and regional conflicts. It will also look at poverty and refugee flows.

Drafting anything more than a minimalist statement will test Mr Solana's diplomatic skills, because the issues that divided the EU during the Iraq conflict were not resolved at the meeting. Mr Solana is expected to begin by trying to reach consensus on the threats facing Europe in the 21st century.

After the meeting, George Papandreou, Greece's For-eign Minister, said all countries agreed that "there is a crisis or at least a problem in our transatlantic relationship". He added: "If we want to have a substantive discussion with the United States, we have to agree what our own priorities are."

The ministers asked Mr Solana to produce a first draft of the strategy before a summit in Greece in June. They also requested that he work on a proposal for closer European defence integration, and EU co-operation with Nato's planned rapid reaction force.