The EU Commission insisted that the meeting primarily concerned returning Afghan nationals with a criminal history and who pose a security threat. But refused to provide any details of the meeting, leaving questions unanswered on who was paying the Taliban trip, where it was taking place, whether any women would
Nikolaj Nielsen
15 EU states met with the Taliban in Brussels on Tuesday (23 June) to discuss deportations to Afghanistan.
A spokesperson from the European Commission on Tuesday said the meeting had been co-chaired with Sweden. Belgium and the Netherlands were also present.
The commission insists that the meeting primarily concerned returning Afghan nationals with a criminal history and who pose a security threat.
The talks dealt with everything from the identification of returnees, the issuance of travel documents and their return.
But Johannes Luchner, a senior EU commission official who went to Kabul in January, has previously suggested it could also include non-criminal Afghans.
“Our first interest is the return of criminals, but we also have an increasing number of non-criminal Afghans with a return order,” he told European lawmakers in late January.
Another EU source now suggests the same, telling EUobserver on Tuesday and ahead of the meeting that the discussion would also include returning failed asylum seekers.
The commission had earlier in the day refused to provide any details of the meeting, leaving questions unanswered on who was paying the Taliban trip, where it was taking place, whether any women would be present, and what the Taliban wanted in return for helping the EU boot out Afghan nationals.
