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EU announces $775 million aid to Afghanistan
BERLIN (updated on: January 29, 2007, 21:32 PST): The European Union on Monday announced an aid package to Afghanistan worth 600 million euros (775 million dollars) over the next four years.
EU commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said one of the main thrusts of the funding would be efforts to bolster the judiciary in Afghanistan in order to fight corruption.
She said the aim of the programme was to ensure that judges "can do in the future what we take for granted" in the West.
The EU funding would also go towards developing alternative crops to combat the narcotics industry in Afghanistan, the world's biggest opium producer.
It was announced at a meeting of the so-called EU troika which groups German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado.
The meeting is being attended by Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta.
The EU pledge follows the announcement last week that the United States plans to spend an extra 10.6 billion dollars in Afghanistan over two years and to extend the tour of duty of more than 3,000 US troops there by four months.
At Washington's urging, Nato has agreed to step up military efforts in spring when Taliban insurgents are expected to step up their offensive. Fighting last year left 4,000 people dead, most of them rebels.
Spanta told Monday's meeting: "We believe that we need to stabilise the situation before terrorist groups can reform. "Yet on the other hand we have to continue our efforts for the rural populations especially in the south.
Steinmeier pointed out that dire reports of the security situation in Afghanistan obscured the fact that "there has been much civilian progress in the country".
He added that the international community had an obligation to improve the lives of ordinary Afghans.
"Despite all our efforts to secure Afghanistan, we have to win over the hearts of the Afghan people."
The combined contribution from the joint EU budget and by EU member states to Afghanistan for the period 2002-2006 was 3.7 billion euros.
The new package for the period 2007-2010, will also focus on health, apart from rural development and the reform of the justice sector.
Over the next few months, the EU's executive arm plans to place experts in key justice institutions -- the justice ministry, supreme court and the attorney general's office -- to help draw up reform plans for Afghanistan's judiciary and legal services.
brecorder.com
BERLIN (updated on: January 29, 2007, 21:32 PST): The European Union on Monday announced an aid package to Afghanistan worth 600 million euros (775 million dollars) over the next four years.
EU commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said one of the main thrusts of the funding would be efforts to bolster the judiciary in Afghanistan in order to fight corruption.
She said the aim of the programme was to ensure that judges "can do in the future what we take for granted" in the West.
The EU funding would also go towards developing alternative crops to combat the narcotics industry in Afghanistan, the world's biggest opium producer.
It was announced at a meeting of the so-called EU troika which groups German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado.
The meeting is being attended by Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta.
The EU pledge follows the announcement last week that the United States plans to spend an extra 10.6 billion dollars in Afghanistan over two years and to extend the tour of duty of more than 3,000 US troops there by four months.
At Washington's urging, Nato has agreed to step up military efforts in spring when Taliban insurgents are expected to step up their offensive. Fighting last year left 4,000 people dead, most of them rebels.
Spanta told Monday's meeting: "We believe that we need to stabilise the situation before terrorist groups can reform. "Yet on the other hand we have to continue our efforts for the rural populations especially in the south.
Steinmeier pointed out that dire reports of the security situation in Afghanistan obscured the fact that "there has been much civilian progress in the country".
He added that the international community had an obligation to improve the lives of ordinary Afghans.
"Despite all our efforts to secure Afghanistan, we have to win over the hearts of the Afghan people."
The combined contribution from the joint EU budget and by EU member states to Afghanistan for the period 2002-2006 was 3.7 billion euros.
The new package for the period 2007-2010, will also focus on health, apart from rural development and the reform of the justice sector.
Over the next few months, the EU's executive arm plans to place experts in key justice institutions -- the justice ministry, supreme court and the attorney general's office -- to help draw up reform plans for Afghanistan's judiciary and legal services.
brecorder.com
