He said the EU played an important part in regions, where the United States was not interested, for example, Chad. The EU can also complement NATO in Afghanistan with more civilian contributions.

On top of the agenda of the NATO summit will be Afghanistan, said Homan. The problem with Afghanistan is that NATO member states have different perspectives and different approaches. NATO members also impose various restrictions on their troops in Afghanistan.

"There should be a unified concept of operations. That is not the case at the moment," he said.

Homan said the alliance needed a comprehensive approach to the problems in Afghanistan.

The Dutch "3D approach" of defense, diplomacy and development in the Uruzgan province of Afghanistan is proven to be successful at local level. This approach should be applied at strategic level, he said.

"NATO has no solution to the problem of Afghanistan. NATO is more or less a military alliance with military means. With only military means you can't solve the problems in Afghanistan. You need involvement of civilian organizations."

At the moment, the UN and the EU have rather low profiles in Afghanistan, he argued.

US President Barack Obama is expected to unveil a new strategy for Afghanistan with the comprehensive approach at its core.

Homan also stressed the importance of the involvement of Afghanistan's neighbors. "You need a regional approach... Afghanistan is not an isolated problem. It has a lot of regional impacts."

A key issue is the lawless border with Pakistan, where the Taliban recruit youths, train them and send them back to Afghanistan to fight the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. "Stabilization of Afghanistan is dependent on the stabilization of Pakistan," he said.

India is playing a part in Afghanistan. China and Iran should also be involved, said Homan.

Next week, the UN and the Netherlands are holding a "big tent" international conference on Afghanistan which will be attended by a broad range of stakeholders. Homan voiced his hope that the conference in The Hague would unify international efforts in Afghanistan.

(Xinhua News Agency March 27, 2009)