Taliban Delegation in Brussels: Belgium Issues Visas

According to NDR research, in return for their willingness to support deportations, the Taliban delegation wants to allow more Talib diplomats to enter Europe. According to the Foreign Office, the German government in Berlin has also agreed to the expansion of the unofficial diplomatic presence of the internationally unrecognized Taliban government in Germany, although this concerns no more than four additional Afghan consular staff.

Criticism from the European Parliament

The background to the negotiations is the EU's plan to curb irregular migration and intensify the deportation of Afghan criminals. Although the European Commission does not officially recognize the Taliban government, it has invited its representatives to the talks. The plan is highly politically controversial within the EU.

There is sharp protest against the invitation: Green MPs and signatories from various factions in the European Parliament have called on the EU and its member states in a letter not to invite Taliban representatives "to political, diplomatic or migration-related negotiations" in Brussels or other EU capitals. The signatories argue that "every invitation, every visa, every official meeting gives the Taliban what they have been striving for since their takeover: political legitimacy and international recognition."

Abdul Qahar Balkhi: Spokesperson of the Taliban Government

The critics also point to the human rights situation. The signatories of the letter noted that the human rights situation in Afghanistan has "dramatically deteriorated, especially for women and girls" and that "political repression" has intensified. In addition, there has been "no progress whatsoever" on the conditions set by the EU itself. The signatories called on the EU to "reject any agreements that link cooperation on deportations to political engagement, diplomatic access or the recognition of Taliban representatives."

Balkhi rejected the allegations against the Taliban. The claim that the Islamic Emirate is against women's education is "false." It is a "malicious attempt to damage the reputation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan." According to his account, alternatives such as madrasas, homeschooling, or online teaching have been created.

Balkhi's personal background is particularly in focus. According to his own account, he grew up as the son of an Afghan family in New Zealand and is said to hold New Zealand citizenship. Before the takeover, according to his own account, he fought in the Kunduz area in northern Afghanistan as a so-called Mujahideen against German armed forces. He did not address the allegations of human rights violations against the Taliban in concrete terms in the known reports.

Reaction of a Bundeswehr Veteran

The German Afghanistan veteran Johannes Clair, who was stationed in Kunduz as a paratrooper in 2010/2011 and published the bestseller "Vier Tage im November" ("Four Days in November"), expressed outrage. Clair described the Taliban on the one hand as fighters, but sharply criticized their methods: „Während wir auf der Straße präsent waren, uns den Menschen gezeigt haben, versucht haben, Kontakte zur Bevölkerung zu knüpfen, Projekte voranzutreiben, haben die Taliban grundsätzlich aus dem Hinterhalt angegriffen durch Sprengstoffanschläge, indem sie Selbstmordattentäter mit Bomben losgeschickt haben oder indem sie Bomben in den Straßen versteckt haben oder indem sie aus dem Hinterhalt auf uns geschossen haben." ("While we were present on the street, showed ourselves to the people, tried to make contacts with the population and advance projects, the Taliban fundamentally attacked from ambush through explosive attacks, by sending suicide bombers with bombs, by hiding bombs in the streets, or by shooting at us from ambush.")

Clair added that Balkhi's background in a Western country and his subsequent radicalization discredited him as a negotiating partner: „Das diskreditiert ihn aus meiner Sicht als Verhandlungspartner." ("That discredits him in my view as a negotiating partner.") He feels "anger" when he sees who is leading the delegation. The visit shames him "as a soldier, as a veteran, and as a citizen."

The Bundeswehr maintained a field camp in Kunduz as part of the multinational ISAF mission. Numerous Bundeswehr soldiers lost their lives in the region, others were seriously injured or returned with psychological trauma. The Kunduz region was considered for a long time to be one of the most dangerous areas in all of Afghanistan.

The European Commission justified the invitation with the need to curb irregular migration and intensify deportations. In Brussels, the question is being discussed to what extent negotiations on migration policy alone are possible without political recognition of the Taliban. Green politicians made it clear that meetings with Taliban representatives at EU level are "not purely technical matters."

The Federal Foreign Office in Berlin declared that the additional Afghan consular staff should facilitate the German government's goal of deporting more Afghan criminals. The exact number of additional Afghan officials is "no more than four."