The prime ministers of the Nordic countries were to meet Monday to discuss regional cooperation and the recent crisis in the European Union. The prime ministers of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland were to meet in the Danish village of Falsled, 160 kilometers (100 miles) west of Copenhagen. The meeting comes 10 days after a summit of EU leaders ended in acrimony, with no agreement on a budget for 2007-2013 and no guarantee that the bloc's first constitution will ever get ratified. The Nordic ministers were also to discuss their countries' position in the world economy, the situation in the Middle East, relations with Russia, reforms in the United Nations and joint experiences from the tsunami disaster in southern Asia six months ago.
