Avignon, France  - The European Union is set to give formal go-ahead to a team of ceasefire observers for Georgia at a meeting of foreign ministers on September
15, diplomats meeting in the French town of Avignon said Friday.

"All the decisions will be taken on September 15 that we go for full deployment of an European Security and Defence Policy mission in Georgia," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said at an informal meeting with EU counterparts.

Avignon, France  - The European Union must close ranks with the United States if the two powers are to protect their global influence, EU foreign ministers are set to say on Friday.

At an informal meeting in the French city of Avignon, the foreign ministers of the EU's 27 member states are due to discuss how they would like to cooperate with the next US president to solve questions of global security such as climate change and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, officials told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Brussels - Macedonian citizens are moving steadily towards enjoying visa-free travel to the European Union, one of the bloc's top officials said Thursday.

"I welcome the good progress done in the field of the requirements that have to be met for visa liberalization," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said after meeting Macedonia's deputy prime minister in Brussels.

"I know how important visa-free travel is for its citizens," Rehn said, adding that his office wanted to see ordinary Macedonians being able to visit the EU without a visa "sooner rather than later".

Brussels - European lawmakers are calling on advertisers to stop reinforcing gender stereotypes by constantly portraying women cleaning the kitchen and men polishing their cars.

A non-legally binding report to this effect was adopted in the European Parliament on Wednesday with 504 votes in favour, 110 against and 22 abstentions.

"MEPs call on the EU institutions and member states to develop awareness actions against sexist insults or degrading images of women and men in advertising and marketing," lawmakers said in a statement.

Brussels - The European Union's top foreign-policy official on Wednesday condemned the formation of a new government by coup leaders in Mauritania, saying that it was an illegitimate move.

EU High Representative Javier Solana "condemned the formation of a new government by the military junta" on Monday and said that the move "cannot be considered as legitimate," a statement released in Brussels said.

Warsaw - Polish public opinion is split on the outcome of Monday's EU emergency summit on Russia, according to a poll published on Wednesday in the daily Rzeczpospolita.

Thirty-eight per cent thought the EU's reaction to the Russia- Georgia war, which threatened to suspend a cooperation agreement but did not lay down sanctions against Russia, was "sufficient" after the summit in Brussels on Monday, while 37 per cent said it was "too soft." Fifteen percent thought the EU had been "too tough" on Russia.

Poland had led several former Eastern Bloc countries in calling for a tough EU stance on Russia, wary of their eastern neighbour's growing assertiveness.