(BRUSSELS) - EU leaders called Friday on Chinese authorities to show "restraint" following violence in Tibet, according to the British and French foreign ministers.

"We are very concerned about what is happening," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told a press conference in Brussels following a two-day European Union summit.

"We have called very clearly that human rights be assured ... the condemnation is high," among EU nations, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told a separate conference after the talks ended.

The Tibetan capital of Lhasa erupted in violence Friday as security forces used gunfire to quell the biggest protests against Chinese rule in two decades, witnesses and rights groups said.

British Foreign Minister David Miliband stressed "the need for restraint on all sides".

"Substantive dialogue is the only way forward," he added.

Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said that an official statement taking all 27 member countries' concerns into account was still being prepared.

"We urge the Chinese government to address the concerns of Tibetans with regards to human rights," he said. "We would like to see some sort of reconciliation between the Chinese authorities and the Tibetans.

Italy's Foreign Minister Massimo d'Alema said: "The situation concerns us greatly," and he demanded that "China bring an end to the repression."

In Germany, a foreign ministry spokesman said "the federal government is following developments in Lhasa with concern and calls on all sides to avoid violence at all costs."

"In the eyes of the federal government, peaceful demonstrations are a legitimate expression of the right of freedom of opinion."

The ministry also advised German citizens not to travel to Tibet until further notice and called on its nationals already present to be careful and to follow instructions from security officials.

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