Saturday, December 4th 2021
No Taliban recognition
EU countries are planning diplomatic representation in Kabul
When the Taliban came to power, the European states withdrew their ambassadors from Afghanistan. French President Macron has now announced that he will be working with other countries on a new diplomatic mission. But that is not a concession to the Islamists.
According to President Emmanuel Macron, France is working with other European countries to open a joint diplomatic mission in Afghanistan. Macron said during a visit to Qatar’s capital, Doha, that this should enable the countries to return their ambassadors as soon as possible after they withdrew in the wake of the radical Islamic Taliban’s takeover in August.
The opening of the representation is planned as soon as possible, but has nothing to do with political recognition of the Taliban government, stressed Macron. Security issues also still need to be clarified. Which other European countries are involved in the plans initially remained unclear. The European Union recently announced that it might soon open a diplomatic mission in the Afghan capital, Kabul, without recognizing the Taliban government.
Before Macron’s statement, France had used Qatar to re-evacuate more than 300 people from Afghanistan. Among them are 258 Afghans who have worked as journalists or civilian helpers for the French armed forces, as well as eleven French and around 60 Dutch people, as the Foreign Ministry announced in Paris on Friday evening.