German Chancellor Angela Merkel made her first foreign visit of the new year to Austria, which took over the presidency of the European Union on Sunday with a pledge to give a new momentum to the 25-nation bloc.

Merkel was attending the Vienna Philharmonic's traditional New Year's Day concert in company with her Austrian counterpart Wolfgang Schuessel and Austrian President Heinz Fischer.

After the concert, the leaders would hold informal talks over lunch at Vienna's Albertina museum.

As EU president for the next six months, Austria will aim mainly to address such issues as employment and economic growth while "boosting citizens' confidence in the European project," said Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik on Sunday in a New Year's message.

"Europe should be a strong and reliable partner in the world," she said. "Our goal is to create a common zone of peace, security and prosperity for our neighbors in Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean region."

Schuessel called for "a new momentum for Europe" in his New Year's declaration.

"Austria would like to use its presidency to bring Europe to the people," he said. "We need to take concrete steps to keep the idea of a common and diverse Europe alive."

Austria will hold the rotating role until the end of June, 2006, followed by Finland in the second half of the year, while Germany is to take the presidency in the first half of 2007.

Source: Xinhua