[JURIST] US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [official profile] will visit Germany, Romania, and the European Union [official website] headquarters in Brussels next week in an attempt to defuse increasing pressure by the EU to respond to allegations that the CIA has been operating secret European prisons [JURIST report] to interrogate al Qaeda suspects. US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that Rice plans to discuss the situation with EU officials "in the broader context of our common struggle against terrorism" in a war with groups of people who "respect no law." Earlier Monday, a top European Union justice official said that EU voting rights could be suspended [JURIST report] for any of the 25 bloc nations that are found to have operated secret prisons, and urged the US to punish violations. Since reports of the covert CIA prison camps broke earlier this month, the Bush administration has declined to admit or deny the allegations. Reuters has more.