Posted: Dec. 3,  2003

Washington -- Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will travel this week, December 1-5, to Europe for meetings with senior elected officials, military leaders and foreign policy specialists. Biden's meetings during the week will focus on the status of the vital trans-Atlantic relationship and Western Europe's involvement in Iraq.

In Brussels, Biden is scheduled to meet with NATO Secretary General Lord George Robertson, incoming NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (currently Dutch Foreign Minister), SACEUR General James Jones and the senior NATO military staff, the European Union's Foreign Policy Coordinator, Javier Solano; EU Commission President Romano Prodi; U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO Ambassador Nick Burns; and with several of the EU's Permanent Representatives, including leading members of the EU Political and Security Committee. Biden also will address the TransAtlantic Center of the German Marshall Fund as part of its Distinguished Speakers Series.

In London, Biden is scheduled to meet with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw; Tory party leader Michael Howard; and Nigel Sheinwald, senior Diplomatic Adviser to Prime Minister Blair. Biden also will address a meeting of the Atlantic Partnership, chaired by Lord Powell.

In Paris, Biden is scheduled to meet with President Jacques Chirac; Defense Minister Alliot-Marie; Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin; participate in a roundtable seminar at the Center for the Study of the United States; visit with both the French Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee of the National Assembly; and wrap up with dinner with several leading French politicians, political advisors and foreign policy experts.

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