European countries on Friday pledged themselves to step up their support for international efforts aimed at eradicating opium production in Afghanistan despite fears that the counter narcotics strategy is being undermined by the corruption of local official and politicians involved in the drugs trade.

The pledge came from EU justice and interior ministers on the final day of a two-day meeting in Newcastle, north of England where the issue of the Afghan heroin trade and how to deal with it was high on an agenda dedicated to improving pan-European cooperation on counter-terrorism, policing and security.