BRUSSELS, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Sweden will raise the issue of a Russian missile incident in Georgia at an EU ministerial meeting this week amid concerns at the bloc's failure to condemn Moscow for the incident, diplomats said on Wednesday.

Tbilisi has said the Western response to the one-ton missile which fell in a Georgian field on Aug. 6 had to be clearer to discourage aggressive acts from Moscow, which has rejected Georgian charges that it was dropped by a Russian plane.

A Swedish diplomat said Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt planned to raise the subject during discussions on EU-Russian relations at a two-day meeting of EU foreign ministers in Portugal beginning on Friday.

"We firmly expect Mr Bildt to raise Georgia," he said.

Another diplomat said the discussion was expected to focus on whether the EU, which is dependent on Russian energy supplies, should have issued a more robust statement on the incident.

The 27-nation bloc avoided taking sides, urging both Moscow and Tbilisi to exercise restraint and cooperate over the matter.

The incident is being investigated by the Vienna-based Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Moscow has dismissed as "a stunt" the Georgian accusations that the missile was dropped by a Russian jet. It also denied a later allegation that a Russian plane violated Georgian airspace and accuses the pro-West government in Tbilisi of provocation.

The United States initially put out a cautious statement urging both sides to tone down their rhetoric before issuing a second one that condemned what it called a "rocket attack".

Diplomats say some Western countries have in the past toned down messages of support for Georgia in its rows with Russia so as not to add more fuel to the fire.

AlertNet news is provided by