By David Brunnstrom BRUSSELS, Aug 1 (Reuters) - The European Union urged all parties involved in Darfur on Wednesday to work for a swift transition to a U.N.-led peacekeeping force and called on rebel groups to participate constructively in talks later this week. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana welcomed a plan for three days of talks starting on Friday in Arusha, Tanzania, aimed at getting about a dozen rebel factions to agree a platform for peace negotiations with the government. "This meeting is a crucial occasion to advance the cause of peace in Darfur and to promote a conducive atmosphere for peace talks," Solana said in a statement. "I call on all invited parties to participate in a constructive way, so that a political settlement can be found and ensure the lasting stabilisation of Darfur." Solana asked all sides to work for a swift transition from the current African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) to a 26,000-strong force authorised this week by the United Nations. "The European Union stands ready to step up its support to this end," Solana said. The European Union provides planning and logistics support to the current AMIS mission. An EU official said the bloc as a whole had no plans to send a new EU force to Darfur under the U.N. plan, but some of the 27 EU member states might contribute. DANES, DUTCH, FRENCH Danish Defence Minister Soren Gade did not rule out sending troops. "That we would contribute an entire battalion would be for many reasons totally unrealistic, but I won't rule out that we could contribute soldiers on the ground," he was quoted as saying on the Web site of daily Jyllands-Posten newspaper. The Netherlands said it was studying the possibility of contributing financially, materially or with troops. But a foreign ministry spokesman said any contingent could not be of the same size as that in Afghanistan, where the Netherlands has about 2,000 troops. "Two of these missions at the same time would be too burdensome for the defence department," he said. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said France had "offered its services", but the majority of troops needed to make a up a shortfall in African soldiers would come from Asia. "We need a political settlement, the rebel groups to return to the negotiating table, and the Sudanese government to accept the political settlement," he told RTL radio. Nigeria, which already has three battalions of troops in Darfur, said President Umaru Yar'Adua had approved deployment of a fourth expected to head for the region by October. A battalion is a unit usually made up of 500-1,000 soldiers. Kouchner said he hoped a mission France had proposed to assist displaced people in Chad would move even more quickly than the deployment allowed by the U.N. resolution. EU foreign ministers asked the bloc's military staff last month to start detailed planning to help a U.N. police mission restore order and protect refugees trapped in eastern Chad and the north of the Central African Republic bordering Darfur. An EU official said it would likely receive full political endorsement from EU member states next month. Diplomats have said it could involve a year-long deployment of 1,500-3,000 personnel from the end of October.
