"Europe's divisions on the Iraq issue were plain before this latest flurry. But the entry into the fray, on the pro-US side, of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic further complicates a fraught inter-European dynamic," the left-of-centre Guardian said in its editorial.
"The decision whether to back US-led military action will be the hardest foreign policy choice Europe has faced, certainly since the Balkan conflict and arguably since the cold war," the Financial Times said.
"A divided response would undermine the credibility of its efforts to achieve a common foreign and security policy."
Leaders from eight European nations, including Britain, Spain, Italy, Denmark and Portugal, on Thursday issued a strongly-worded open letter that called for Europe to support the United States on the Iraqi crisis.
But the letter was notable for the absence of French and German backing.
Britain's biggest selling daily, The Sun, said French President Jacques Chirac and German leader Gerhard Schroeder were "like spoilt brats who behave badly when the grown-ups are distracted".
"France has been saved twice by America in two world wars, yet it shows not the slightest gratitude. Germany became a world economic leader thanks to American dollars poured into its post war construction. Now, when the chips are down and the world is in peril once more, it repays these debts by sabotaging its greatest ally," wrote the tabloid's political editor Trevor Kavanagh.
The pro-US letter, published in newspapers across Europe, read: "The real bond between the United States and Europe is the values we share... Our strength lies in unity" - Sapa-AFP.
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