European defence ministers expressed reluctance on Monday to send more troops to the Nato-led mission in Afghanistan, anticipating the response to a possible US call for reinforcements. Rather than send reinforcements, several EU states want to focus resources and efforts on training the Afghan military and police, defence ministers meeting for informal talks on the west coast of Sweden said.
"If you look at Europe, I don't hear any voices saying we have an additional five or ten thousand soldiers to send to Afghanistan," Danish Defence Minister Soren Gade told reporters. "Take my country for example, we have right now 850 soldiers (in Afghanistan). Compared to our size - we are 5 million people - it's a lot, so it will be very difficult for me to send more soldiers and I think a lot of European politicians will have an excuse not to do so."