2-day EU summit closes, highlights global ambitions

BRUSSELS: A two-day European Union summit closed today with leaders hailing progress in the 27-state bloc's relations with strategic international partners the United States, China and India.

National leaders also decided today to grant membership candidate status to Montenegro and praised global moves to combat climate change at a conference in Cancun, Mexico, earlier this month.

Yesterday night they pledged to do "whatever is required" to defend the shared euro currency as markets increase pressure on weaker euro economies such as Portugal following Greece and Ireland seeking EU-IMF bailouts.

"The European Union is not only an economic union and a trade bloc, but also an important geopolitical partner," said EU president Herman Van Rompuy. "We are clearly moving in the right direction.