British PM's EU speech rescheduled for this week: Hague

(LONDON) - Prime Minister David Cameron's long-awaited speech on Britain's relationship with Europe, which was postponed because of the Algerian hostage crisis, will take place this week, a minister said on Sunday.

"It will happen this week. We will make an announcement on when and where tomorrow (Monday)," Foreign Secretary William Hague told the BBC.

Cameron had been due to travel to the Netherlands for Friday's speech but cancelled it at the last minute to deal with the attack on the In Amenas gas complex, in which six Britons and one British resident are feared to have died.

According to extracts of the speech given to the media before it was called off, Cameron was expected to warn that Britain could drift out of the European Union unless the bloc meets key challenges.

Britons were tiring of the EU's "lack of democratic accountability", he planned to say, warning: "If we don't address these challenges, the danger is that Europe will fail and the British people will drift towards the exit."