MADRID, July 14: - Quarrels and rivalries within the European Union were forgotten on Thursday as from Estonia to Portugal and from Sweden to Austria the people of the continent paused for two minutes in tribute to the 53 victims of the London bombings a week ago.

Russia, though, ignored the event.

“There are a lot of Chechens who have received political asylum in England... Without a doubt, this played a significant role in the president’s (Vladimir Putin) decision,” said Viktor Ilyukhin, deputy head of the parliament’s security committee, commenting on the decision.

But Moscow was a sour exception and nowhere was the commemoration more poignantly observed than in Madrid, itself the scene of indiscriminate terrorist carnage in March 2004, when 191 people died in attacks on trains.

The Spanish seat of government, parliament, stock exchange and city hall were among the official venues that came to a standstill for the observance at 1:00pm (1100 GMT).

In Brussels, the vice president of the European Commission, Franco Frattini, was joined by other commissioners and staff, about 100 in all, outside the executive’s offices.

“We have to guarantee the fundamental right of security to citizens,” Frattini said afterwards. “It is a precondition for all other freedoms. If we are not free to go into the underground, our society is not free.”

At the nearby European parliament, MEPs and staff also gathered in silent tribute around the building’s central monument, where a British flag had been raised.

Elsewhere in the Belgian capital, government ministers and parliamentarians observed the period of silence, while underground rail trains came to a stop at station platforms.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder interrupted his work for the observance, as did the Frankfurt stock exchange.

French President Jacques Chirac delayed his traditional Bastille Day interview to take part in the tribute alongside British Ambassador John Holmes as sirens wailed across the French capital to mark the start of the period.

They were flanked by Chirac’s wife Bernadette, visiting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his wife, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and the speakers of the French parliament and Senate, Jean-Louis Debre and Christian Poncelet.

Flags were flying at half mast across Paris, and the metro marked a two-minute halt.

In Italy, the silence was observed by the Milan stock exchange and Rome’s Fiumicino airport, while Pope Benedict XVI offered his prayers to the victims and their families as well as for peace.

“The Holy Father prayed for peace and that such acts of violence not recur,” said Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls from the pope’s holiday retreat in the Italian Alps.

Vienna’s transport network also came to a halt, as did public television and radio.

Similarly in Portugal, the Lisbon metro stopped rolling, and President Jorge Sampaio, government ministers and lawmakers took part in the tribute.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende laid a wreath at the British embassy in The Hague, while flags flew at half mast on official buildings.

Public transport halted, the ANP news agency interrupted work and people observed the silence at train stations and public offices in The Netherlands.

Sirens wailed in several cities of Poland, where public broadcasts halted as Prime Minister Marek Belka laid a wreath at the British embassy in Warsaw.

Three Polish nationals were wounded in the London attacks, while eight are still missing.

In Latvia, state radio stopped broadcasting as government and private office workers gathered to pay homage to the victims, who included two Latvian women injured.—AFP