On his first day on the job, NATO's new secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, called Monday for stronger European efforts in Afghanistan so that the United States did not feel alone in the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida. Citing Qaida attacks on European soil, Rasmussen said the battle against Islamic extremism belonged to Europe as well. 'I would urge Europeans to look closer into how to ensure a better balance in the alliance,' he said in an interview here. 'To that end we need increased European contributions.' Rasmussen, 56, a former prime minister of Denmark, takes office as European will to support NATO's biggest mission, the war in Afghanistan, is waning. NATO casualties there hit a record high in July, and Britain, France and Germany have shown a reluctance to commit more troops. But echoing the plaintive pleas of his predecessor, the Dutch diplomat Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Rasmussen called for more European troops and more Europeans to train the Afghan army and the police to stand on their own. 'It is essential to keep this as a multilateral project, not least for political reasons,' he said, alluding gently to the American-British invasion of Iraq in the face of major allied discontent. 'That is a lesson I learned from the past. Even if America can do it on its own, there are heavy arguments for doing it through a multilateral approach within a NATO context.' NATO has about 64,000 troops in Afghanistan, about half of them American. But the number of Americans is expected to increase to 68,000 by year's end, which would mean roughly two American soldiers for every non-American one. Washington would like at least some of the extra troops Europe has sent to Afghanistan to provide security for the coming elections to remain there, and to have more flexibility in their use, but Rasmussen refused to comment on the progress of that conversation. Rasmussen, who was Denmark's prime minister for the last eight years, is the highest-ranking official to become NATO's secretary-general. As prime minister, he was involved deeply in European Union and NATO issues. Having presided successfully over a contentious European Union during the fierce debate over expansion in 2002, he is respected by his peers and was the consensus pick of major European countries for this job. 