The Spanish Foreign Minister said that two senior EU officials will visit a reception center in Spain on Saturday to receive Afghan refugees working for the EU.
Spain set up the center at the military base in Torrejón de Ardoz to take care of refugees who were airlifted to the European Union until they were resettled to other EU countries.
European Commission President Ursula von der Lein and European Council President Charles Michel will visit the center with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told Searle Radio.
He added that the center was built by the Spanish Air Force in just four days, can accommodate about 1,000 people, and will then be sent to other EU member states.
“This is a hub, they arrive in Spain and then travel from here to other countries that provide visas,” the minister said.
“It is the logistics center of Europe because all Afghans who have worked with EU institutions in recent years will pass there.”
The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday that Spain has agreed to become an “EU point of entry” for Afghan refugees working for the EU and NATO.
Albares said that “almost all” EU member states have agreed to accept Afghans working in European institutions, such as Belgium, Denmark, Germany and Latvia.
He added that Spain will receive “approximately 50” refugees.
The Torrejon de Ardoz base took a flight from Rome on Thursday, with 36 Afghan employees of the European Union Mission in Kabul.
EU spokesman Peter Stanos told AFP in Brussels that more than 160 people — EU employees and their families — have already arrived in Europe.
Stanos said that more than 200 people are waiting to be evacuated from Afghanistan, adding that this number is not final.
