Debate: The situation in Afghanistan
Date: TUESDAY, 8 JUNE 2021
Speaker: Josep Borrell Fontelles
Language: EN

Today, the US and NATO troops are withdrawing from the country. Troops from European Member States will also withdraw. The peace process is largely stalled and violence continues. We see an appalling rate of civilian casualties, as I said, 40% of them are women and children, and targeted killing of civil society activists, media workers and public servants. I am afraid this violence might further increase in the near future.  The security situation in Afghanistan is evolving quickly. The Taliban control more than half of the country’s territory and increasingly have less incentive to compromise, so the short-term prospects for a peace deal look bleak. However, the Taliban know that a large part of the Afghan population does not share their convictions and that ethnic and religious cleavages may come out to the fore in the absence of a negotiated peace settlement. Therefore, I wish to underline that the European Union will make every effort to support the peace process and remain a committed partner to the Afghan people. Of course we have to take into account the evolving situation, but this engagement is not an option. It is not an option for many reasons. First, because for over two decades, over the last 20 years, we have invested significant political capital and financial resources to support Afghanistan’s stability and development and also we have lost quite an important number of lives of our soldiers.  The gains of our assistance have been prominent with regard to human rights and the empowerment of women. I want to stress the importance that during these last 20 years, Afghan women have been increasing their rights and getting out of the medieval times in which they were under the Taliban regime. But these achievements can be very much jeopardised. These achievements are in danger because Afghanistan today is at a crossroads. They are living in critical times and in order to safeguard the achievements of the Afghan people during these years, we have to continue being engaged and to provide new perspectives for the Afghan citizens when – finally, we hope – an agreement will be obtained under the Doha negotiations.  Second, because our strategic interests are also at stake. Independently of the troop withdrawal, political and civilian assistance, disengagement from Afghanistan would not serve our interests. A collapse in the democratic order in Afghanistan or massive backtracking on human rights – and once again I want to stress the importance of the rights of women – could lead, among others, to a new surge on international terrorism, to further forced displacement and irregular migration – too often in the hands of traffickers – and to the greater magnitude of the illicit trade in narcotics. So there cannot be tolerance for Afghanistan becoming a safe haven again for international terrorism.  We are currently in intense discussions with our Member States, with the US, with NATO and the United Nations, on the absence of essential security conditions for our continued diplomatic presence. It would be difficult to keep it. We need hospitals and airports if we want to continue being there. These come on top of the pledges of NATO partners to continue their support to the Afghan National Defence Forces under the Afghan National Army Trust Fund.  Let’s go back to the peace process. We are clear on that. There is no alternative to a negotiated political settlement through inclusive peace talks. This also means that there can be no sanction relief for members of the Taliban at the United Nations Security Council without a genuine commitment on their part to the peace process through a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire and substantial progress in the peace negotiations. I do have to stress our interest in a stable Afghanistan with a development perspective being shared by all countries of the region who also need to play a constructive role in this peace process and with whom we will step up our cooperation.  Which is our main leverage in the current situation? Well, this is our continuing political and financial support. It has to be made clear to the Afghan Government and the Taliban that this support is and will continue to be conditional upon the preservation of the country’s human rights and democratic achievements, and this support is not pennies. During the last 20 years it has represented EUR 3.5 billion of development assistance. This report has to be conditional – I insist – on the preservation of human rights and democratic achievements, tangible progress in improving governance, in particular anti-corruption, but also on the access of women to education and to the political and social life.  The challenges are massive, we know. That’s why we have to continue with our engagement with the Afghan people in order to prevent them losing all that they have won in these last 20 years. And I want to insist especially on what Afghan women have won. I was looking at a video before coming to this debate – from Staffan de Mistura, one of the people who have done more for Afghanistan because he has been the Special Envoy of the United Nations there – where the young girls and women in Afghanistan were trying to counterbalance the Taliban raising their Kalashnikovs by raising their pens. Raising their pens in order to claim their right to school, their right to education. Because the education of women is the basis of a civilised society, because when you educate a human being, you educate a human being. When you educate a woman you educate a family. You educate more than one woman. The multiplier effect of education for women is impressive. And when I see these young girls raising up their pencils I think that all of us we should raise up our pencils and our engagement with the Afghan people and especially with Afghan women.