NATO defense ministers meet in the cultural hub of Poland on Thursday and Friday to tackle primarily the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.
European allies are under pressure to send more troops to Afghanistan after U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday that Washington will send in 17,000 more troops in the coming months, Xinhua reported.
But U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates admitted on his way to Krakow that the likelihood of European allies committing significant numbers of additional troops is small.
Obama is clearly shifting U.S. priority from Iraq to Afghanistan. But European leaders are yet to convince their citizens that they also have a stake in the war in Afghanistan.
So far, only Italy has announced it will reinforce its contingent by 500 troops in Afghanistan.
As European allies are unlikely to send big numbers of troops, particularly combat troops to fight insurgency in Afghanistan, the United States may ask European countries to help in other ways.
The NATO ministers will discuss support for the Aghan national police, whose development has not been as successful as the Afghan national army, NATO spokesman James Appathurai told reporters prior to the ministerial meeting.
European allies may be asked to provide more Operational Mentor and Liaison Teams (OMLTs) -- trainers imbedded with Afghan forces in their operations -- so that American teams can be freed up for police training, said Appathurai.
Police play a key role in holding an area for reconstruction after the NATO-led forces have cleared it from Taliban-led insurgency. However, the standing up of the Afghan national police has been plagued by corruption.
The NATO allies also face the imminent task of providing security for the Aug. 20 presidential elections. Election support is seen as the priority of NATO in Afghanistan for this year, said Appathurai on Tuesday.
On Friday, the ministers will discuss defense transformation, particularly the modality of the NATO Response Force, a rapid reaction force that can be quickly deployed anywhere in the world for emergency situation.