MUNICH, Germany, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- French Defense Minister Herve Morin said Saturday that military operation alone is not enough to solve the crisis in Afghanistan.

    "Military is only one element," Morin told a group of high-profile diplomats at a key security conference opened Friday in the southern German city of Munich.

    The minister said military victory alone can not generate the desired peace and stability in Afghanistan if public opinions are not considered.

    More concerns for a "civilian element" is needed, said Morin, adding that the western nations can not apply the western social standards to Afghanistan at this stage.

    The minister also underlined the importance of collaboration with the Afghan authorities within the framework of the United Nations.

    France and Germany have been under pressure to send more soldiers at the request of NATO to Afghanistan where security concerns have intensified recently.

    Canada has threatened to pull out its soldiers unless European allies such as France and Germany send additional troops to the southern Afghanistan.

    Germany has bluntly rejected a request from the United States to offer more troops in the more volatile southern Afghanistan.

    Morin said Thursday during an informal NATO meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, that France was considering sending an undetermined number of troops to southern Afghanistan.

    Some 1,600 French troops are currently deployed in the relatively peaceful north Afghanistan as part of the 43,000-strongNATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

    The annual three-day security meeting is scheduled to discuss a range of the world's most thorny issues. It was attended by high-profile diplomats including NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana this year.