EU Holds First Brussels Talks With Taliban on Afghan Returns
The technical meeting focused on deporting failed asylum seekers and readmission, as rights groups warned it could legitimize the Taliban.
- On Tuesday, Taliban representatives met European Union officials in Brussels for the first time, discussing repatriation of failed asylum seekers in what Brussels described as "limited talks" with Afghanistan's "de facto authorities."
- Member states struggle to deport failed asylum seekers "who commit crimes or are deemed dangerous," with less than 30 percent of those ordered to leave actually returning to their country of origin.
- Co-Chaired by Sweden, the "technical level meeting" included representatives from 15 European Union member states, while Belgium issued Taliban delegates five one-day visas valid only for Belgian soil.
- Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai called the visit a "slap in the face," while Amnesty International activists alleged the European Union was "undermining their credibility" by engaging with the regime.
- Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi emphasized "the need for trust-building measures" and consular services, though critics argue the Taliban primarily seek international legitimacy rather than technical cooperation.
94 Articles
94 Articles
A delegation of the Afghan Taliban met in Brussels on Tuesday with officials of the European Union for the first time, an event that human rights organisations denounced as legitimising Islamists, but the EU defended it, claiming it represents a step towards facilitating the repatriation of asylum seekers whose applications were rejected, reports Reuters.
EU Hosts Taliban Officials in Brussels for First Time Amid Deportation Talks
European Union officials met a delegation from the Taliban administration in Brussels for the first time, marking a significant step in the bloc’s limited engagement with Afghanistan’s de facto rulers. The meeting, attended by European Commission officials and representatives from 15 EU member states, focused primarily on the return and readmission of Afghan nationals who […] The post EU Hosts Taliban Officials in Brussels for First Time Amid De…
Most Afghan embassies on the continent are still staffed by diplomats who were appointed before the return of the Taliban in August 2021.
Doing business with the Taliban: Bad company
Brutal regimes rarely want for trading partners. The Taliban are only the latest to find that strategy and commerce outlast moral objection. Gul Hassan, the Taliban’s ambassador in Moscow, spent the first days of June 2026 working the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Almost a year earlier, on July 3, 2025, he had presented his credentials to Andrey Rudenko, a Russian deputy foreign minister, and Russia had become the …
It is unknown who the Taliban delegation was composed of and with whom they met. NGOs warn that returns to Afghanistan could expose those deported to serious human rights violations. More information: Afghanistan protects a new law to marry girls and uses its silence as consent: "We are witnessing a great genocide"
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