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EU critical of Karzai "mistakes" ahead of Germany visit
May 9, 2009, 9:24 GMT
Berlin - The European Union Foreign Affairs Commissioner warned Afghan President Hamid Karzai to do more to put his troubled country's affairs in order on Saturday, ahead of his state visit to Germany.
Benita Ferrero-Waldner called for Karzai to 'to advance the country, build an administrative infrastructure and take steps against corruption,' in an interview with German daily Berliner Zeitung.
Karzai is due to hold talks Sunday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.
'Mistakes have been made in the past,' the EU commissioner said, adding that other countries also needed to improve the coordination of their civilian and military aid.
German foreign policy expert Eckhart von Klaeden, of Merkel's Christian Democrats, told the paper Karzai needed to act 'more decisively against corruption and the cultivation of drugs.'
There were signs 'that this decisiveness is lacking,' he said.
Green Party defence spokeswoman Winfried Nachtwei warned the German government against complacency.
Merkel should say 'what Germany will do against the downward spiral which we are witnessing in Afghanistan's security and political legitimacy,' Nachtwei said.
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