Europe resists US pressure to boost presence in Afghanistan - by Ian Traynor
Europe appeared last night to be resisting pressure from Washington to pour more money and troops into Afghanistan in expectation of a major campaign in the spring. As the European commission announced it was cutting aid to Kabul, Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, used a special meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels to demand greater input from the Europeans. Her demand came after the unveiling of a muscular new policy in Washington, with the administration asking Congress to earmark more than $10bn for Afghanistan. "I am relatively optimistic that other nations will step up to the plate," said the Nato secretary-general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. But he was rebuffed by his own country, with the Dutch foreign minister, Bernard Bot, saying it was up to others to match the US offer.
The commission said yesterday it planned to put €600m (£395m) into Afghanistan over the next four years. It spent €1bn in the past four years. The money is largely for civil reconstruction projects, with around a quarter of it targeted at eradicating opium poppy cultivation.
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