Brussels, 12 October, LETA – AFP. The European Union (EU) on Tuesday pledged a € 1 billion package of aid to Afghanistan to “prevent a massive humanitarian and socio-economic collapse,” said Urzula von der Leiena, president of the European Commission (EC).
The funds provide an additional € 250 million, in addition to the € 300 million previously pledged by the EU for urgent humanitarian needs, with the remainder going to Afghanistan’s neighbors hosting Afghans fleeing the Taliban regime, the statement said.
Von der Leiena expressed this commitment at Italy’s G20 virtual meeting on the humanitarian and security situation in Afghanistan.
In the statement, she stressed that EU finances are “direct aid” to Afghans and will be transferred to international organizations working on the ground, rather than to the Taliban interim government, which is not recognized by Brussels.
EU development aid funds, which are different from humanitarian aid funds, will remain frozen.
“We must do everything we can to avoid a huge humanitarian and socio-economic collapse in Afghanistan. We must do it quickly,” von der Leiena said, drawing attention to the approaching winter.
“We have made clear the conditions for cooperation with the Afghan authorities, including respect for human rights. So far, the news speaks for itself. But the Afghan people should not pay for the Taliban’s actions,” she said.
EU countries have different positions on the possible influx of Afghans, similar to what it was during the 2015 migration crisis.
In line with the Brussels Strategy, money must be allocated to stabilize Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and to help countries between Afghanistan and Europe, thus curbing possible migratory flows.
The € 1 billion package will support health care in Afghanistan. In neighboring countries, it will be spent on supporting the management of migration-related processes, promoting cooperation in the fight against terrorism, crime and smuggling of migrants.
Following the withdrawal of the US and other foreign military contingents from Afghanistan, the Taliban launched a general offensive operation in August and briefly seized almost the entire territory of the country, but on August 15, the capital, Kabul, fell into their hands.
The only province in Afghanistan that had not come under Taliban control was Punjah for some time, but the Taliban leadership announced on September 6 that the Islamist movement had also taken over the province.
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