Brussels  - European Union defence ministers agreed Monday to modernize their helicopters in order to meet some of the shortfalls facing the bloc's peace-keeping missions around the world.

Slovenian Defence Minister Karl Victor Erjavec, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said ministers meeting in Brussels had recognized the need to train helicopter pilots better and upgrade their equipment.

"This is a political act, but we don't want it to remain on paper," Erjavec said.

A shortage of helicopters has been blamed for the difficulties facing a number of EU peace-keeping initiatives, including delays in the deployment of its 3,600-strong mission in Chad.

"This operation is crucial for our credibility," said Erjavec as he announced that Russia and Ukraine had both offered to provide transport helicopters to the EU's Chad mission.

Many European helicopters remain idle because they cannot operate in desert regions like Afghanistan due to a lack of proper filters.

Defence ministers also reviewed other EU military operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as a forthcoming mission to Guinea-Bissau.

And they also discussed better coordination with NATO during an informal lunch with the alliance's secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

France, which is due to assume the rotating presidency of the EU on July 1, has vowed to place defence issues high up its list of priorities for the semester.

Norway, meanwhile, became the first non-EU country to join the bloc's defence procurement regime, which seeks to open up the European defence equipment market to more competition.

All EU countries except Denmark have joined the scheme, which is voluntary. (dpa)