BERLIN, March 2 (Xinhua) -- An informal meeting of European Union defense ministers Friday discussed the bloc's security policy issues and agreed to send police missions to Kosovo and Afghanistan.

    The EU would continue to play a crucial role in stabilizing Kosovo and ensuring peace in the Balkans, the ministers said.

    "Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo belong to our continent and their stability is fundamental to us," said EU high representative of foreign affairs Javier Solana, who also attended the two-day meeting concluded Friday in the western German city of Wiesbaden.

    "We have an obligation to offer them a perspective to get closer to the European Union and eventually be members," he added.

    The ministers agreed to deploy EU police officers in Kosovo with full executive powers to handle possible violence and unrest.

    They also decided to reduce troops in Bosnia from 6,500 to 2,500 this year, saying security there has improved.

    "The security situation in Bosnia is very much better," said Solana.

    The meeting host, German Defense Minister Franz-Josef Jung, said, "As a first step, we want to withdraw around 3,500 soldiers,then watch what happens before we move on." But he did not name a date.

    The 16,000-strong NATO force in Kosovo will continue to lead military operations there after an expected United Nations Security Council decision on the territory's final status.

    Jung said that the reduction of NATO's presence in Kosovo would send a wrong signal as concerns of unrest in the breakaway province will remain high after the UN resolution is approved.

    On Afghanistan, Jung said that the approval of the plan to dispatch six Tornado surveillance aircraft to boost NATO operations in southern Afghanistan was pending next week in the German parliament.

    Besides, the EU was ready to train Afghan policemen to help stabilize the war-torn country, Jung said, adding, "Security and reconstruction go hand in hand in Afghanistan."

    Defense ministers from the 27 EU nations also vowed to forge stronger partnerships with NATO, the UN and the African Union.

    They urged Sudan to accept more UN troops to help the African Union force in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region.