Summit dinner called off amid riots
Demonstrators fought pitched battles with police
EU leaders meeting in Gothenburg have had to cancel a planned dinner because of security concerns after a second day of violent riots and clashes between protesters and Swedish police.
Police have decided the dinner, originally to be held at the elegant Tragar'n restaurant in the city's Botanical Gardens, would instead be held in the conference centre, which is guarded by hundreds of police, an EU spokesman said.
Four delegations attending the summit were also asked to change hotels after police said they could no longer guarantee their safety from protesters, a spokesman for the Finnish delegation told AFP.
MacDonald's attacked
Anti-globalisation and anti-EU demonstrators fought pitched battles with police for a second day.
Shops were looted and buildings damaged some distance away from the meeting, where EU leaders discussed ways of putting expansion plans back on track after Irish voters rejected them.
Violence
The protesters, many wearing face masks, threw fireworks and stones at police, who fought back with clubs.
Others were seen shattering shop windows, including a McDonald's restaurant and a bank, and burning cafe furniture along streets littered with debris.
Some mounted policemen were thrown off their horses.
Local health authorities said 27 people were admitted to hospital with slight to medium injuries, including at least nine police officers. Many others got first aid on the scene.
Police sealed off a shopping mall in the centre of town after an object suspected to be a bomb was found.
Demonstrators tried repeatedly to get close to the conference hall where the 15 EU leaders are meeting, and at one stage were reported to be less than a mile away.
Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said he was upset by what he called "this destructive behaviour".
"This is a blatant disregard for democracy and unworthy of a society such as ours," he added.
At least 440 people were arrested on Thursday after clashes during US President George W Bush's meeting with EU leaders and police said more were detained in the second day of riots.
Irish "no"
The Irish rejection of the Nice Treaty has shattered Sweden's hopes that it might be able to end its EU presidency next month by announcing an entry date for new members.
The treaty must be approved by the 15 member-states before the EU can expand to include a dozen applicant countries from eastern Europe.
Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern asked EU leaders to grant his country "an extended period of reflection" after last week's "no" vote.
"I want to make it absolutely clear that, in my view, the 'no' vote should not be interpreted as a vote against enlargement," Mr Ahern told his EU colleagues at the start of the summit.
The development of the EU's own military role, the shaky situation in Macedonia and the Middle East crisis were also expected to be discussed.
Minor changes
The front-runners for membership - Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic - are pressing the EU for assurances that negotiations will continue as planned.
In a joint pre-summit statement, Mr Persson and European Commission President Romano Prodi said only minor changes were needed to obtain a "yes" vote in Ireland.
"We know that the Irish Government and the Irish people are committed to the enlargement process," read the statement.
"We trust the Irish Government will make every effort to secure ratification within the agreed time frame."
All EU members are expected to approve the Nice Treaty before the end of 2002.
Irish fears
Ireland is the only country that requires a referendum to approve the EU treaty, and EU leaders hope that the expansion plan will be ratified in a second vote once Irish concerns about neutrality are allayed.
The EU entered membership negotiations with six countries in 1998 - the so-called wave one, which includes Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, Estonia and Cyprus.
Although no date has been set for their entry, these countries could join the European bloc by 2004.
Wave two countries - Romania, Bulgaria
Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Malta - are
expected to join at a later date.
-- Anonymous, June 15, 2001