BRUSSELS, March 12: Increasing international concern at the volatile situation in Pakistan, including the government crackdown on lawyers and political activists, will loom large at talks in Prague on Friday between a European Union ministerial team and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg will lead the EU delegation which will include Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and European External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

The Czech Republic holds the current six-month rotating EU Presidency while Sweden will take over as EU chair on July 1.

The EU has long sought ministerial talks with Pakistan as part of a drive to upgrade political and economic relations with Islamabad.

The focus is very much on bolstering — and showing support for — democracy and Pakistan’s year-old civilian government.

Ironically, however, the meeting is being held amid rising international concern at Islamabad’s tough response to political demonstrations and growing doubts about the government’s democratic credentials.

As in Washington, policy-makers in Brussels fear that the Pakistani government and security forces are being distracted from the real task of dealing with an economy in sharp downfall and the danger posed by the spreading insurgency.

Discussions in Prague will also focus on EU plans to hold a first-ever summit with Pakistan and Islamabad’s demands for a better trade deal with the 27-nation bloc. Counter-terror cooperation will also be discussed.

Relations with Pakistan were also on the agenda of this week’s meeting between Nato and US Vice-President Joe Biden as well as discussions last week between EU officials and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The European Commission will host an official-level meeting on regional economic cooperation in Afghanistan on March 17. The talks are in preparation for a ministerial meeting on the same subject to be held in Islamabad on April 1-2.
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