On Friday (September 3), EU member states put forward conditions for strengthening contact with the Taliban and agreed to establish a joint European-Kabul civilian presence.
“We must contact the new government of Afghanistan. This does not mean recognition, but a kind of engagement,” said Joseph Borrell, the EU’s chief diplomat, after the EU foreign minister supported this position.
However, in recent weeks, it is unclear what this contact will look like and whether this means the official recognition of the Taliban’s takeover.
“This kind of action participation will increase depending on the behavior of this government,” Borrell said, adding that this in itself does not constitute an official recognition of the Taliban government, but “increased depends on its behavior.”
He detailed five benchmarks of potential contact, one of which is that the new Taliban government must prevent the country from becoming a breeding ground for terrorists again, as they did during their last administration.
It must also respect human rights, the rule of law and guarantee freedom of the media, and allow other political forces to enter the transitional government.
In addition, the new government must allow free humanitarian assistance and respect EU procedures and delivery conditions.
“We will increase humanitarian assistance, but we will judge them based on the channels they provide,” Borrell said.
The final benchmark requires the Taliban to allow free passage for those who wish to leave the country.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that the speed at which frozen development aid-unlike unconditional humanitarian aid-can flow again depends on the Taliban.
Maas told reporters in Slovenia: “We have heard a lot of mild remarks in the past few days, but we will measure the Taliban by their actions rather than words.”
“We hope to help avoid an imminent humanitarian crisis in the coming winter, which is why we must act quickly,” Maas said.
Borel stated that if the security situation permits, the EU aims to coordinate its contacts through the EU’s joint presence in Kabul to respond to the Taliban and ensure that Afghans whose group cannot leave the country leave the country.
“In order to implement evacuation… we decided to work in a coordinated manner,” Borrell said.
He added that the EU will “coordinate our contacts with the Taliban, including through the EU’s joint presence in Kabul…if security conditions are met”.
At the same time, the EU is also seeking to strengthen coordination with Afghanistan’s neighbors to prevent large numbers of immigrants from flowing into Europe from that country.
Borrell stated that the EU will seek to establish a “regional political platform” with neighboring countries in Afghanistan to help stabilize the situation.
“This political platform will consider issues such as managing the movement of people from Afghanistan; preventing the spread of terrorism; and combating organized crime, including drug trafficking and human smuggling,” he said.
[Edited by Benjamin Fox]
