The EU countries contributing to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, dubbed as UNIFIL, say it is "essential and fundamental" and only the UN can decide whether to end it, Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles said on Wednesday after a video call with 15 of her counterparts.

"All the countries that are part of it are firmly supporting the UNIFIL mission, our soldiers, our people who are there," she said in a video statement sent to reporters.