BRUSSELS - The European Union will hold an international aid conference on Mali in May, EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Monday.

France sent military forces to Mali in January after the country appealed to Paris for urgent military support to halt advances by Islamist rebels and defuse the risk of Mali being used as a springboard for attacks in Europe or north Africa.

Mali's Prime Minister Django Cissoko speaks at a joint news conference with EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso after a meeting at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels Feb 18, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

Since the French intervention, Islamist rebels have been pushed back from the main urban centres of northern Mali into the mountains and desert.

"I told the prime minister today about the European pledge to organise an international donors' conference in mid-May to help the reconstruction of Mali," Barroso told reporters after a meeting with Malian Prime Minister Django Cissoko in Brussels.

"This is one more demonstration of our commitment and our engagement with the stability, unity, democracy, and development of Mali. The Malian people can count on Europe," Barroso said.

The EU unblocked 250 million euros ($333.77 million) in frozen development aid to Mali last week, and distributed a first tranche of 20 million euros.

The aid had been frozen since the country's March 2012 coup, but the bloc resumed cooperation after noting signs of democratic progress.

($1 = 0.7490 euros)