BRUSSELS, May 12 (Reuters) - The European Union, one of Afghanistan's largest donors, announced the last tranche of a 1 billion euro ($1.29 billion) aid package to the poor Muslim state on Thursday and pledged more help in future.

EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the aid would target improving health in a country with one of the world's lowest life expectancies and rural development to persuade farmers to stop cultivating opium poppies.

"We have respected our commitment of 1 billion euros," Barroso said after talks with President Hamid Karzai after announcing some 340 million euros of aid for 2005-2006 on top of the 660 million euros already delivered.

"Afghanistan still needs our support. We will go on supporting Afghanistan after 2007," he told a news briefing, saying the amount of future aid would be decided later.

Karzai, on the last of three days of talks with NATO and EU officials in Brussels, said he sought a long-term partnership with the EU to rebuild Afghanistan "so we can no longer be a burden on your shoulders".

On Wednesday Karzai won assurances from NATO, which leads an 8,400-strong peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, that it expected to be involved in the country long-term.

He is due to travel to Washington later this month. Karzai's bid for long-term security ties with the United States has prompted debate over whether the larger U.S.-led force of 18,300 in Afghanistan will be given permanent bases there.