NATO foreign ministers are gathered in Bonn on Monday to discuss the way forward in Afghanistan. The German news magazine SPIEGEL spoke with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who will be leading the conference, about how much international involvement will be required following the 2014 withdrawal and about his rocky partnership with the U.S.

SPIEGEL: Mr. President, the international community is meeting in Bonn to consult about the future of Afghanistan. Last year, foreign ministers gathered in Kabul for a similar conference and the location alone was seen as a sign of progress. Is your capital too dangerous to host such a meeting?

Karzai: That's the wrong way to see it. The Kabul conference was a symbol that the Afghans were ready to arrange such a meeting by themselves and in their own country. The Bonn conference is a celebration of 10 years since the first Bonn conference. We could not do this anywhere other than Bonn. We want to talk about what we have achieved, what we have done wrong and what we can do better in the future.

SPIEGEL: The focus of the conference, among other issues, will be the security situation in Afghanistan. In recent months, it has not improved much, as can be seen by the murders of several government officials, governors and, most recently, former President Burhanuddin Rabbani.

Karzai: We all hoped at the first Bonn conference that the arrival of the international community would bring peace and stability back to Afghanistan along with a lot of other achievements we have been awaiting for so long. Of these, we have achieved some, and they are massive achievements. What we don't have yet is security for the Afghan people -- a successful campaign against the terrorism in our country. That is the biggest shortcoming of ours. I hope that we will achieve that goal in the next 10 years.

SPIEGEL: In the West, most of the talk recently has centered on withdrawal, despite the precarious security situation in Afghanistan. Does that make you uncomfortable?

Karzai: I don't see any reason so far to ask for a later pull-out at this moment. I am confident we will get there according to the timeline that we all made together. As of 2014, Afghan forces will have taken over security efforts in the whole country. In Bonn, I will present my vision for the next 10 years and how the international community could assist us.

SPIEGEL: What would you like to see?

Karzai: I will not be asking for money. The West didn't come for Afghanistan in the first place. They came for their own security, and we joined hands in this fight against international terrorism. We needed them, they needed us. We are and will be on the front lines of the fight against terrorism and we lose people everyday. We are grateful for all the help we get from Western countries, but the efforts in Afghanistan are also a shared responsibility. If we fail on the path to a stable Afghanistan, the old days and a situation as before the terrible attacks of 9/11 might come back sooner than we think.

SPIEGEL: How exactly do you envision Western assistance going forward?