EU ministers bespreken vergiftiging Russische ex-spion (en)

EU interior ministers are set to debate the recent death of Russian former agent Alexander Litvinenko - poisoned by radioactive polonium-210 in Britain - at their Brussels meeting on Monday (4 December).

UK minister John Reid hinted in an interview for Sky News over the weekend that the investigation may stary into other European countries and that he was planning to raise the issue at the EU meeting.

"Over the next few days I think that all of these things will widen out a little from the circle just being here in Britain," he said, adding that the UK's health authorities "are already starting to liaise with our European colleagues and the police will follow wherever this investigation leads."

Alexander Litvinenko died on 23 November at age 43 with police linking his sudden illness and death to the discovery of polonium-210 in his body.

His friends argue he was poisoned because of his criticism of the Russian president Vladimir Putin, with the case impacting last week's EU summit with Russia held in Helsinki.

A UK counter-terrorism team is travelling to Moscow this week to contact the Russian authorities as part of their query into the spy's death.

Meanwhile in Britain, the incident led to a radiation scare after several spots with some traces of the radioactive material were found in London, with over 3,000 people contacting the health emergency and 179 being followed up for further investigation, BBC reported.

Doctors are now monitoring an Italian contact of Mr Litvinenko, Mario Scaramella, who was among the last people to see him before he fell ill. Mr Scaramella has proved positive to some polonium contamination but experts say he is doing well.

In today's meeting, the UK minister John Reid is planning to share information and exchange views with his EU counterparts when they debate fresh legislative proposals on how to boost Europe's police cooperation.

The key item on the agenda concerning this subject is a review of the so called Hague programme aimed at boosting the effectiveness of the the EU's handling of police and justice related issues.

The European Commission has argued in favour of a shifting justice decisions to the EU level and getting rid of the national vetoes to make the decision-making more effective but most member states have refused the idea.

Other points to be debated include the final decision over the EU fundamental rights agency as well as on procedural rights in criminal proceedings and the application of mutual recognition to judgments on criminal matters across the EU.