EU To Take Urgent Look At Boosting Afghan Aid

 EU states agreed on Monday to look urgently at ways to boost support for an Afghan government threatened by a growing Taliban insurgency, in close coordination with the United States.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels stressed the importance of the success of a presidential election due in Afghanistan on Aug. 20 and reiterated a commitment made last year to double the size of a police training mission.

"Ministers agreed now was the right time to examine urgently options for increasing European support to the people and government of Afghanistan," said Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.

"The ministers reiterated their strong will to find, together with the United States, ways of ensuring a common approach and effectively implementing solutions."

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana called on EU states to make good their pledge to double the size of the EU police training mission, currently half its target strength of 400 international staff, as soon as possible.

The United States is conducting a review of Afghanistan strategy ahead of an April NATO summit and says it will coordinate this with the EU and other international players.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier charged that the Czech presidency was being too hesitant and did not need to wait for the U.S. strategy review before doing more.

"We should do our job, and part of this job and the commitments we took is the training of police," he said of the programme, first launched by Germany.

Steinmeier said getting police trainers and consultants to Afghanistan depended on countries offering incentives to those willing to serve in conflict zones.

EU states have faced criticism for failing to answer calls from Washington and fellow EU countries to send more troops to fight militants and to follow through on training and aid pledges.

After a meeting of NATO defence ministers on Friday, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said President Barack Obama expected "significant new commitments" from allies on troops or civilian help before the NATO summit.