Related story: US supports "strong European Union", Bush says

    WASHINGTON, June 20 (Xinhuanet) -- The United States and the European Union on Monday declared a united front to solve nuclear issues in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Iran.

Luxembourg PM and current holder of the rotating European Union presidency Jean-Claude Juncker (L), US President George W. Bush (C), and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso walk to a press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington.

    In their joint statements, the United States and the EU demanded DPRK to solve its nuclear issue "in a permanent, transparent, thorough, and verifiable manner," while renewing their support for six-nation diplomacy.

    The six-party talks, involving the DPRK, the US, the Republic of Korea, China, Japan and Russia, have been stalled since June last year as the DPRK accused the United States of adopting a hostile policy towards Pyongyang.

    On Iran, the United States and Europe Union reaffirmed their support for talks led by Britain, France and Germany and urged Tehran to freeze uranium enrichment and reprocessing and cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog agency.

    The United States and the EU also welcomed Lebanon's elections,saying that they would consider calling an international conference to solicit support for a new government.

    "Once the Lebanese government has defined its reform agenda and should it so request, we will consider convening an international conference to consolidate support for the Lebanese people and the new government," a joint US-EU statement said.

    On Iraq issue, Washington and Brussels insisted that deep transAtlantic divisions over the war in Iraq were in the past.

From (L to R) are: Foreign policy chief Javier Solana, President of the Council of the European Union Jean-Claude Juncker, Bush, and President of the European Commission Durao Barroso.

    "There may have been past differences over Iraq, but as we move forward, there is a need for the world to work together so that Iraq's democracy will succeed," Bush said at a news briefing after meeting with Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, the current EU president, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

    They also reaffirmed their support for Israel's controversial plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank and expressed strong support for Palestinian elections.

    "We support the holding of free, fair, and transparent multi-party legislative elections in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, under the scrutiny of international observers and with full freedom of movement for candidates and voters," they said. Enditem