Europe and the United States must work together much more closely on coordinating their operations in Afghanistan and plans for the country, Reuters cited French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner as saying in remarks published today. Kouchner told Le Monde newspaper that France and its partners were working on Europe"s strategy for Afghanistan. "We want Europe and the United States to meet a lot more often to discuss the Afghan problem," he said in an interview, adding that no one "dreamed of withdrawing from Afghanistan immediately". "But we are still waiting for a decision from President Obama concerning his strategy. We are not going to oppose the Americans in Afghanistan. But in order to discuss, we need a European strategy," he said. President Barack Obama is weighing several options for boosting U.S. force levels in Afghanistan, a decision likely to escalate America"s involvement to confront a resurgent Taliban and their al Qaeda allies. Kouchner met Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, on Friday to talk about the situation in the country after the re-election of President Hamid Karzai, who will be inaugurated in office on Nov. 19. "Bernard Kouchner noted that France and the European Union hope that Afghan authorities and the international community will rapidly define our priorities for joint action to support the development and stabilisation of Afghanistan," the foreign ministry said in statement. France is one of the biggest European contributors to the Afghan mission, with roughly 3,000 troops, along with Britain and Germany. Currently, there are about 67,000 U.S. troops and 42,000 allied forces in Afghanistan.
