BUCHAREST, April 3 (Reuters) - President Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed at a NATO summit on Thursday that France will send a battalion of troops to the east of Afghanistan as part of efforts to bolster the alliance's peacekeeping force.

"I have decided to reinforce the French military presence with one battalion deployed in the east region," Sarkozy said, according to the text of a speech to be delivered at the summit in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. (Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau; Writing by Mark John; Editing by Timothy Heritage)

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