EU foreign policy chief criticizes lack of international attention for Afghanistan

The European Union’s foreign policy chief on Monday criticized the lack of international attention being paid to Afghanistan despite the suffering of the people.

In a speech to EU ambassadors on Monday, Joseph Borrell told countries not to only look at the Ukrainian crisis.

“Last year, everybody was talking about Afghanistan. Afghanistan was the big issue, remember in August [and] in September [2021]. Where is Afghanistan now? In Afghanistan, certainly, but it is no longer on the front pages of the newspapers. It looks like Afghanistan does not exist. The same problems exist – they are the same ones – but nobody talks about it,” Borrell said.

Meanwhile, Washington said on Tuesday that the stability and the future of Afghanistan and the security challenges are always on the agenda of its talks with Pakistan.

“We value our long standing cooperation with Pakistan. There are a number of areas where our interests are aligned. Of course, the stability and the future of Afghanistan, of the Afghan people, the security challenges that the region and potentially beyond face there always are on the agenda when we have high-level engagements with our Pakistani counterparts. We meet with and speak with them regularly on a range of issues. But as is standard practice, we don’t delve into the details of those engagements always,” US State Department’s spokesperson Ned Price said in a press conference.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has repeatedly said that it seeks good relations with all countries including the United States, and has called for recognition.

The international community, however, has set ensuring women’s rights and the formation of an inclusive government as conditions for recognition.