EU hosts Taliban officials in Brussels for first time
EU-Taliban Meeting and Its Implications
(Corrects title of Jeff Crisp in paragraph 12, making clear he is no longer Head of Policy Development and Evaluation at UNHCR)
By Amina Ismail and Inti Landauro
Background of the Meeting
BRUSSELS, June 23 (Reuters) - An Afghan Taliban delegation met EU officials in Brussels on Tuesday for the first time, an event rights groups denounced as legitimising the Islamists but the EU has defended as a step towards making it easier to repatriate failed asylum seekers.
The EU and its member countries have not recognised the Taliban government since the militant group returned to power five years ago after 20 years of war against a government backed by a U.S.-led NATO force.
But Brussels has defended its decision to hold limited talks with Afghanistan's "de facto authorities" as necessary to deport failed asylum seekers who commit crimes or are deemed dangerous.
Details of the Brussels Meeting
A spokesperson for the EU's executive European Commission said that officials from the commission and 15 EU member states had attended the Brussels meeting, a followup to a previous meeting held in Kabul in January.
"The Commission services and Sweden co-chaired a technical-level meeting today in Brussels with technical-level representatives of the de facto authorities of Afghanistan responsible for return and readmission," the Commission spokesperson said.
Afghan Perspective and Agenda
A spokesperson for Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry described the agenda as wider, saying it included a possible consular presence in the EU, resumption of consular services for Afghans there, and "the need for trust-building measures".
The meeting raised "hope to build positive momentum to safeguard consular rights of Afghans residing abroad," added the spokesperson, Abdul Qahar Balkhi.
A letter from the Commission addressed to Balkhi and reviewed by Reuters said the talks would focus "on the return and readmission of Afghan nationals without a right to stay in the EU."
Criticism and Concerns
The visit was heavily criticised by rights groups and by a number of European politicians who said that such engagement could put Afghans at risk and undermine core EU values.
Human Rights and Legitimacy Issues
"Europe must not legitimise a regime responsible for one of the worst human rights crises in the world," Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani girls' education activist, said in a post on X.
Beside conferring legitimacy on the Taliban, the meeting is also contentious for its potential effects.
Potential Consequences for Afghan Returnees
"The most obvious and dangerous consequence is that Afghans will be returned from the EU, and will face persecution from the Taliban after their arrival," said Jeff Crisp, former Head of Policy Development and Evaluation at UNHCR and visiting fellow at the University of Oxford.
Logistics and Restrictions
Belgium's Foreign Ministry had issued a visa that allowed the Afghan representatives to enter the country for only one day and restricted their presence to Belgian soil, rather than allow normal free movement in the EU's Schengen zone.
Current Situation in Afghanistan
Since returning to power, the Taliban have steadily curtailed rights, restricting women's freedom of movement, banning girls from education beyond primary school and enforcing morality laws that limit free expression and access to employment.
(Reporting by Amina Ismail and Inti Landauro; Editing by Philip Blenkinsop, Peter Graff, William Maclean)
