Afghan leader hosts EU after "problematic" time

By Jonathon Burch

KABUL (Reuters) - Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt met Afghan President Hamid Karzai Tuesday, aiming to mend ties between Kabul and the European Union strained by a fraud-tainted election and what Bildt called a "problematic phase."

Bildt, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, was the most senior Western official to visit since Karzai's re-election was announced last week, despite a U.N.-backed probe finding more than a quarter of his votes were fake.

Bildt said he wanted to kickstart a new EU plan to boost economic development and curb corruption in Afghanistan.

"We want to strengthen and streamline our engagement, our support for the development of Afghanistan," he told reporters at a news conference in Kabul.

"We are of course now in a new situation after the problematic phase that has been here after the election. We need a new start," he said.

The souring of relations with the West has come at a particularly sore time, with U.S. President Barack Obama poised to decide whether to send tens of thousands more troops.

Bildt reiterated comments by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who said last week European nations were reluctant to contribute more troops.

"I can't judge troop numbers, but I think they are going to stay roughly the same," Bildt said.