OSLO, Dec 14 (AFP) - The Nordic countries, which are among the world's most generous development aid contributors, called Tuesday on other rich nations to step up their efforts to reach millennium aid goals, stressing the link between reducing poverty and peace.

"As a representative of the most generous country in the world, I am very critical of countries that do not keep their promises," Norwegian Development Aid Minister Hilde Frafjord Johnson told AFP after a meeting with her Swedish, Danish and Finnish counterparts in Oslo.

Stressing the "complex relationship between peace, security and development", the Nordic ministers adopted a joint declaration calling on the Group of Seven economic powers to release "substantial resources".

Failing action from the G7, which comprises the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, Britain, Italy and France, the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will not be met, they said.

None of the seven countries have raised their development aid to 0.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) as advocated by the United Nations. France and Britain are the only countries to have even adopted a program aimed at reaching that goal.

But Norway, which gives more than any other country with 0.95 percent of its GDP earmarked for aid in 2005, along with Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, are the only countries to have surpassed the 0.7 percent goal.

Finland and a handful of other countries have committed to reaching the goal by 2010.

The UN's Millennium Development Goals were adopted in 2000 by the UN. They are aimed at halving poverty and hunger, bringing education to all, improving health standards, and reducing the spread of diseases like AIDS and HIV by 2015.

"The millennium goals can be reached if the rich countries keep their promises," Frafjord Johnson said.

According to humanitarian aid group Oxfam, at the current rate, Canada, the United States and Germany will only reach the goal of 0.7 percent in 2025, 2040 and 2087 respectively.

"We urge all countries, and in particular the G7 countries, to deliver on the pledges made in Monterrey, commit themselves to a timetable to reach the 0.7 percent target, and deliver on that target as quickly as possible," the Nordic ministers said in their statement.

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