BERLIN - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and British Prime Minister Tony Blair called on Europe on Sunday to stand up to a resurgence in extremism across the continent, Reuters said.

The British leader made a brief visit to Berlin to speak with Schroeder about the situation in the Middle East and Afghanistan, as well as about the far-right in Europe.

"We agreed entirely on the need for democratic people of all persuasions to stand together in solidarity against extremist policies of whatever kind," Blair told a joint news conference with Schroeder in the chancellery building.

"Those policies offer no real security, no real hope, no real answers to the problems people face and we reject them entirely," Blair said.

The shock success of extreme rightist Jean-Marie le Pen in the first round of France's presidential election and the killing last week of Dutch anti-immigration crusader Pim Fortuyn, who was riding high in opinion polls ahead of a may 15 general election, have highlighted the rise of xenophobic movements across Europe.

Schroeder and Blair, who have moved their respective left-leaning parties toward the political center, meet regularly for informal talks on international issues. Their last meeting was in London last month.

Schroeder, whose government has attempted to outlaw Germany's far-right National Democratic Party (NPD), described the trend as the resurgence of nationalism in European politics, which aims to turn back decades of effort to unify Europe.

*** Counter Resurgent Nationalism ****

"The trend toward a resurgence in nationalism is problematic for European enlargement and integration and we must and will work to counter to it," he said.

Schroeder told Britain's *** Guardian *** newspaper at the weekend that European expansion to the East was an antidote to rising nationalism. He also said extremist parties were unlikely to have any success in Germany's September general election.

Schroeder's attempts to outlaw the NPD, launched last year, hit a stumbling block last week when Germany's constitutional court said it would wait until after the election to hear proceedings on the bid.

Blair and Schroeder also discussed the Middle East, saying political and not just security issues should be at the forefront of peacemaking.

The British leader went on from his meeting with Schroeder to appear on the widely-watched German television talk show Sabine Christiansen, where he was asked about possible military action by the United States and Britain against Iraq.

Iraq is engaged in talks with the United Nations about the possible return of inspectors to investigate allegations it is developing weapons of mass destruction.