While European powers France and Britain are lobbying Washington to cool tensions since North Korea's most powerful nuclear test a month ago, EU nations with embassies in Pyongyang are directly pressing the North Koreans.
A group of seven European Union countries — the Czech Republic, Sweden, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Britain and Germany — held at least two formal meetings with North Korean officials in Pyongyang in September, three EU diplomats said.
But they felt frustrated because the higher-level access that they had obtained in Pyongyang last year had fallen away, with only medium-ranking foreign ministry officials now attending the meetings.
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