EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said that while she was surprised by challenger Abdullah Abdullah's decision to drop out of a planned run-off vote, there was little choice but to work with Karzai.

"What we need, at this point, is a committed government because we have a war situation there and I think there is no other chance to really work with a committed government. The right conditions will have to be laid, the right terms will have to be mentioned, but I don't think there is another choice," Benita Ferrero-Waldner said. "So, we will have to work with President Karzai, I guess so, but we will also have to work in very clear terms."

Still, Ferrero-Waldner conceded that corruption remained a problem in Afghanistan under Karzai.

"We want to, of course, have a government that will fight corruption," she said.

Ferrero-Waldner said the EU provides about $207 million per year to Afghanistan and that amount would increase substantially from 2011 to 2017. She did not provide a specific figure.

The EU was also committed to substantially increasing aid to Pakistan to help achieve stability, security and economic development, Ferrero-Waldner added.

She said she did not think European leaders might hedge their commitment should the U.S. administration decline to send more troops or substantially reduce their presence in Afghanistan following a policy review being undertaken by President Barack Obama.

"We have to stabilize this region, not only, so to say, to help the Americans, because I think we have our own interest to do so. Indeed, terrorism comes from there and we have to see our responsibilities as European responsibilities," she said. "We are there for the long haul."