EU planning to re-open Kabul diplomatic mission

KABUL (Pajhwok): The EU is intending to reopen its diplomatic representation in Afghanistan within a month as the bloc seeks to deepen its limited engagement with the Taliban regime, according to a report in the Financial Times on Monday.

The move means that EU diplomats will return to Kabul about 12 weeks after they fled the city, as Brussels seeks to co-ordinate aid efforts and the continued evacuation of Afghan citizens.

The planned return comes as global powers attempt to work out how to deal with the country’s new leaders. Brussels has said it seeks a “calibrated approach” to the militants, pursuing engagement with the administration but stopping short of recognition.

The bloc believes it needs a role in a Taliban-led Afghanistan in order to lobby for the protection of human rights, to hold the militants to their pledge to stop the country again becoming an exporter of terrorism, and to help prevent a humanitarian crisis.

It is also responding to efforts by China, Russia and Turkey, which did not close their embassies when Afghanistan’s former government was overthrown, to build close ties with the new regime.

The European External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic and security arm, plans to reopen a representative office in Kabul that would house its officials and could be used by diplomats from member states, people briefed on the plans told the Financial Times, pending a final resolution to security concerns.

“There is only so much you can do from Doha,” said one of the people, referring to the role the Qatari capital has played as a go-between for western states and Taliban militants. Brussels sent an exploratory mission to Afghanistan last month to assess the feasibility of sending diplomats back to Kabul, aware that without a presence on the ground, it lacked the access required to effectively implement a pledged regional aid package worth about €1bn.

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