Gunnar Wiegand, who’s the European Commission’s managing director for Asia and the Pacific, has stated that the EU executive is working to secure €300 million in funding this year and next to facilitate the resettlement of approximately 30,000 Afghanistan people.
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Gunnar Wiegand also stated that official relations with the Taliban would be established only if the group met certain conditions, such as respect for human rights and unrestricted access for aid workers and avoid making Afghanistan safe haven for terrorists.
“There is no doubt among EU member states and in the G7 context: we need to engage with the Taliban, we need to communicate with the Taliban, we need to influence the Taliban, we need to make use of the leverages which we have.
“But we will not rush into recognising this new formation, nor into establishing official relations,” Wiegand told members of the European Parliament in Brussels.
Gunnar Wiegand stated that it’s not yet clear whether the Taliban will be able to govern the country effectively, but the establishment of an inclusive and representative transitional government will be a key condition for the nation’s official relations with the EU.
Part of the confusion rocking the action of the Taliban is that two weeks after seizing control of Kabul, the Islamic militant group has yet to name an administration or reveal their plans for governing Afghanistan.
Other conditions for recognising the Taliban, according to Gunnar Wiegand, will be allowing Afghans who wishes to leave the country free passage, refraining from retaliation against those affiliated with foreign powers or the former government, and not making Afghanistan a refuge place for terrorists.
Based on current activities, there are fears that Afghanistan will be engulfed by the same migrant crisis that engulfed Europe in 2015 and 2016.
According to Gunnar Wiegand, a European Commission proposal to acquire 300 million euros in 2021 and 2022 should “underpin resettlement and humanitarian admissions” for roughly 30,000 persons to be resettled.
Although the EU Executive didn’t say categorically where the money would come from or how it would be spent.
But he demanded an evaluation of what went wrong during the West’s 20-year engagement with Afghanistan, citing the chaotic evacuation of civilians and international personnel following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul.
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“We have to make an assessment of the reasons why such a meltdown was possible. We have to learn lessons for similar situations, and this will be an assessment which is starting now,” Wiegand said.
