US, Germany to host talks on how to engage with Taliban
According to EURACTIV, the EU on Wednesday (8 September) sharply criticised the composition of the new Taliban “caretaker” government, as international coordination efforts are under way to find a way in dealing with the new rulers in Kabul.
The Taliban on Tuesday had announced a hardline caretaker government that has no women or non-Taliban members and includes key figures who are under United Nations sanctions or wanted by the United States on terrorism charges.
The “caretaker” government unveiled by the Taliban in Afghanistan failed to honour vows from the new rulers to include different groups, the EU said on Wednesday (8 September).
“Worrying reports” would be coming out of Afghanistan, “that the Taliban are not complying with international human rights obligations to which Afghanistan committed over the past decades,” EU’s lead spokesperson for foreign affairs, Peter Stano, said.
He was responding to reports of the violent crackdown of a demonstration in the Afghan capital Kabul with many women among the participants.
Last week, EU foreign ministers laid out their conditions for stepping up engagement with the Taliban, including the formation of an “inclusive and representative” transitional government.
At the same time, the EU is ready to continue with emergency aid to Afghanistan but will keep a close eye on the new Taliban government, European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič said on Wednesday (8 September).
Šefčovič, however, added that longer-term donor money depended on the Taliban upholding basic freedoms.
“We are looking very, very carefully at how the new government is behaving before engaging,” he told reporters in Brussels.
The comments came as foreign ministers from 20 countries, chaired by senior diplomats from the US and Germany, held talks on Wednesday on how to approach the new administration.
The virtual meeting discussed the conditions of cooperation with the Taliban, the terms for providing humanitarian aid, a discussion on issues related to the fight against terrorism and the support of fundamental human rights in Afghanistan.
