NATO defence ministers agreed Thursday to make election security in Afghanistan a top priority, as the United States urged its allies to new efforts against the Taliban-led insurgency.

The elections in August are seen as a litmus test of NATO's efforts to help spread security and democracy in Afghanistan, as well as President Hamid Karzai's widely criticised government.

"Everybody understands with regards to Afghanistan that this is a priority, if not priority number one for 2009," spokesman James Appathurai said as the ministers held informal talks in Krakow, southern Poland.

"There is a commitment around the NATO table to provide the forces necessary to allow the elections to go forward in a secure manner," he told reporters.

Germany confirmed that it would send 600 extra troops ahead of the polls, while Italy has suggested it could provide 500 more personnel.

NATO officials have warned that security is likely to be a bigger problem in the coming months. Karzai faces a "constitutional crisis" after his mandate runs out in May and his government has been accused of rampant corruption.

Although NATO's operation in Afghanistan is its biggest and most challenging ever, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged his allies to do more to confront the Taliban militia.

The meeting comes just after Washington announced the dispatch of 17,000 extra troops, heaping new pressure on European allies to match the new Obama administration's efforts.

But Gates sought civilian help from nations unable to stump up soldiers, in line with the new US "comprehensive" strategy, which also includes boosting the Afghan police and fighting chronic government corruption.

"Where the allies can make a significant longer-term contribution is particularly on the civilian side — on governance, training of the police, development, rule of law issues, corruption, counter-narcotics," he said.

"I hope that it may be easier for our allies to do that than significant troop increases, especially for the longer term."

Appathurai said that Gates invited Washington's NATO allies to participate in preparations that Obama's administration is making for a new Afghan strategy.

"They want to hear what allies have to say as they, the United States, engage in their own process of strategic review," Appathurai said.

He said the US review would be completed well before NATO's 60th anniversary summit in early April to ensure that "everybody is moving in the right direction."

Ahead of the meeting in Krakow, the top US commander in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, warned of the difficulties ahead.

"Even with these additional forces, I have to tell you, 2009 is going to be a tough year," he said Wednesday at the Pentagon.

"There are the baseline problems of poverty, and literacy, and violence that have occurred over the last three decades in that country, so that's not going to turn around quickly," he said.

"For the next three to four years, I think we're going to need to stay heavily committed and sustain in a sustained manner in Afghanistan."

NATO officials argue that for the counter-insurgency strategy to work, rebuilding must be stepped up and more donations made, while diplomacy should broaden to take in Afghanistan's neighbours and nations further afield.

"We should follow a more regional approach," NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said. "Stability in Pakistan is of the utmost importance."

As the ministers gathered, some 300 protestors rallied against their meeting on Krakow's vast snow-covered medieval central square.

They demanded that NATO pull out of Afghanistan, that the US axe plans for a missile shield in Poland and called for an end to military spending as the global finacial crisis bites. Two arrests were reported.

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