Monday 29 November 2021
Kabul is hoping for support
EU to help Taliban with airport operations
The chaotic scenes at Kabul airport when the Taliban took over rule in mid-August will not be forgotten. Since then, the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated. The radical Islamic rulers hope for help from the EU in the operation of the airports – and renew a promise.
During talks in Doha, the radical Islamic Taliban asked the EU for help in operating the Afghan airports. As the European External Action Service (EEAS) announced, the Taliban representatives reaffirmed their promise to allow Afghans and foreigners to leave Afghanistan if they so wish. In return, they asked for support in maintaining airport operations.
The EU declaration also stated that the Taliban would keep their promise of an “amnesty” for Afghans who had worked against the Taliban before the Islamists came to power in August. These include, for example, security forces and employees of the international armed forces in Afghanistan.
According to the statement, both the new rulers in Afghanistan and the EU representatives expressed themselves “very concerned about the worsening humanitarian situation in Afghanistan with the approaching winter”. Brussels therefore promised to continue to provide humanitarian aid.
Both sides sent high-level officials to the Qatari capital for talks, which took place shortly before the two-week US-Taliban negotiations. The EEAS stressed that the dialogue with the Taliban did not mean recognition of their government by the EU, but was “part of the EU’s operational engagement in the interests of the EU and the Afghan people”.