The EU is suspending development payments to Afganistan until it can speak with the Taliban, the bloc's top diplomat has said. Josep Borrell said on Tuesday evening following a meeting of EU foreign ministers that there can be “no payments of development assistance until we clarify the situation” with Taliban leaders. The Commission has pledged about €1.2 billion in development assistance for Afghanistan for the 2021-2024 period. Borrell said however that “humanitarian help will continue, and maybe we will have an increase,” given the number of displaced Afghans, the ongoing drought, and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The announcement from Borrell came hours after the German government said it was suspending its own development assistance to Afghanistan. Borrell also said the bloc "will have to speak" to the Taliban "as soon as necessary" because the militant group "have won the war" in Afghanistan. However, Josep Borrell insisted that dialogue did not imply formal recognition of the new regime by Brussels in the immediate future. "The Taliban have won the war. So we will have to talk with them, in order to engage in a dialogue as soon as necessary to prevent a humanitarian and a potential migratory disaster but also a humanitarian crisis," he told a news conference.
"This dialogue will also have to focus on the means to prevent a return of a foreign terrorist presence in Afghanistan," he added. Borrell was speaking to the press after a videoconference meeting of European foreign ministers, as EU member states continue efforts to speed up the evacuation of Western nationals and Afghan personnel from Kabul airport.
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