Nato foreign ministers to meet over difficult future of Kabul

Nato foreign ministers are holding an emergency video conference on Friday to discuss the unfolding situation in Afghanistan, and what steps might be taken. The meeting comes as the EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, slams the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan as a "catastrophe".

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday's extraordinary virtual meeting aimed to carry on Nato countries' "close coordination" of Afghanistan, and to find a "common approach". John Thys Pool/AFP/Archivos

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday's extraordinary virtual meeting aimed to carry on Nato countries' "close coordination" of Afghanistan, and to find a "common approach".

The session follows an meeting on Tuesday during which Stoltenberg admitted the alliance had been caught by surprise by the Taliban's swift takeover of Afghanistan.

However he echoed US President Joe Biden's stance on the situation, blaming the Afghan leaders for the fall of Kabul, saying they had "failed to stand up" to Taliban fighters.

I have convened an extraordinary virtual meeting of #NATO Foreign Ministers this Friday 20 August to continue our close coordination & discuss our common approach on #Afghanistan.

— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) August 18, 2021

The Nato chief also said his priority was to evacuate Nato's remaining 800 civilian personnel and its Afghan employees in Kabul.

Stoltenberg reiterated that all Nato countries had backed the US decision to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, which meant all allied soldiers that had been deployed were leaving too.  

EU laments Taliban victory

Meanwhile, the European Union's foreign policy chief branded developments in Afghanistan "a catastrophe" and said there had been a failure of intelligence to anticipate the Taliban's rapid return to power.

Addressing the European Parliament on Thursday, Josep Borrell said about 100 EU staff and 400 Afghans working with the EU and their families had been evacuated, but that 300 more Afghans were still trying to leave.

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He stressed that it was Europe's "moral duty" to rescue as many Afghans as possible who had worked for the EU in Afghanistan, but said it would not be possible to get them all out.

"Let me speak clearly and bluntly, this is a catastrophe," Borrell said. "It is a catastrophe for the Afghan people, for the Western values and credibility, and for the developing of international relations."

Joined extraordinary @EP_ForeignAff meeting to discuss situation in Afghanistan.

Evacuation of remaining staff including Afghan local staff, securing humanitarian assistance, and positioning towards new political realities are immediate priorities.https://t.co/PlKP9nJIj6

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) August 19, 2021

Western countries have been scrambling to airlift their citizens, Afghan staff and their families out since the Taliban took control of the capital Kabul on Sunday.

Thousands of people have desperately tried to get past Taliban roadblocks and US troops to reach Kabul airport.

In his speech, Borrell addressed concerns that a fresh wave of Afghan migrants might reach Europe, in a replay of the 2015 migrant crisis, when large numbers of people trekked across the continent, many fleeing conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

"Don't call them migrants, they are exiled people, people who are fleeing to save their lives," Borrell said, rejecting comparisons with Syria as Afghanistan is much further away.