Washington -  US President George W Bush left Monday for a one-week visit to Europe and said he would speak with his European partners about Afghanistan and economic topics.

Among the economic issues were economic development and the rising price of oil.

Bush also again called for the development of technologies to decrease industrial dependence on fossil fuels.

The US president also mentioned the continuing weakness of the dollar as a topic for discussion, saying that the United States was committed to a strong currency.

The first stage of the European tour is Slovenia, where Bush will attend Tuesday's summit meeting with the European Union.

The talks are to be held in the resort city of Brdo, hosted by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, the current EU council president.

The Middle East and the Iran's nuclear programme also set to be discussed.

Bush is to travel later Tuesday to Berlin. Other stops on his tour will be Rome, Paris and London. (dpa)