Brussels - In a further sign of the new United States administration's desire to work with Europe, US Vice President Joe Biden is due to meet European Union and NATO officials in Brussels next week, officials said Wednesday.

Biden, who already met with several European leaders at a security conference in Munich in February, is expected to hold talks with EU officials and with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at the alliance's headquarters on Tuesday.

That talks are expected to focus on international operations in Afghanistan and developments in neighbouring Pakistan, NATO spokesman James Appathurai said.

Biden's visit is preceded by that of US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who attends a NATO foreign ministers' meeting on Thursday and meets with the EU's Commission-Presidency-Council troika on Friday.

Barack Obama plans to make his first trip to Europe as US president in early April, when he attends a Group of 20 summit in London, a NATO summit in Strasbourg and talks with EU leaders in Prague. (dpa)