Brussels - The European Union has carried out raids on companies which

Brussels - French President Nicolas Sarkozy is welcome to mediate in the conflict raging in the Gaza Strip, but he should follow the European Union's line, officials in Brussels said Monday.

"What's important is that the (EU's) message is maintained ... if other visitors pass on the message, we're more than happy," European Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj said told journalists.

Brussels - European Union consumers face no risk at present of having their gas cut off because of the row between Russia and Ukraine, but it is urgent to end the dispute before EU stocks run low, a spokesman for the bloc's executive said Monday.

The latest information from EU member states "shows that final consumers are unaffected" by the decision by Russian monopolist Gazprom to cut supplies to Ukraine, and there is "no immediate danger to supplies to European citizens," European Commission spokesman Ferran Tarradellas told journalists in Brussels.

Brussels - The European Union on Monday sent a fact-finding mission to Kiev in a bid to clarify the situation surrounding Russia's shut-off of gas supplies to Ukraine, EU officials confirmed.

The delegation of top officials from the Czech Republic, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, and the European Commission, the EU executive, is set to hold talks with Ukrainian political leaders and representatives of the gas industry, a presidency spokesman told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Brussels  - The Belgian parliament on Friday approved a new government made up of the same five political parties that formed the last ruling coalition, bringing at least a temporary end to the country's long-running political instability.

Lawmakers approved the formation of the government by a majority of 88 votes to 45, with no abstentions, parliamentary officials confirmed.

Brussels - The European Union's executive on Wednesday expressed "serious concern" at Azerbaijan's decision not to extend the broadcasting licences of foreign agencies such as the BBC.

"The decision by the Azerbaijani National TV and Radio Council not to renew the broadcasting licences of several foreign broadcasters, including the BBC, Radio Liberty and Voice of America is a matter of serious concern," EU Foreign-Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a statement.