Brussels to host Taliban in talks on Afghan deportations

The controversial talks are likely to be held in a neutral venue, such as a hotel in the Belgian capital, rather than on EU premises

A Taliban delegation is expected in Brussels before the summer for highly sensitive talks with EU and national officials on the deportation of Afghans, officials familiar with the discussions told Euractiv.

The meeting, which is being coordinated following a push by Belgium’s ministry of migration, is set to take place in Brussels and will involve officials from the European Commission, the European External Action Service and other selected national administrations, including Sweden.

One EU official said the invitation is expected to be issued by the Commission with Swedish backing, and that it will be sent in the coming weeks for the meeting to take place before the summer.

A visit by EU and Belgian officials to Kabul in January laid the groundwork for a follow-up meeting in Europe.

A Commission spokesperson told Euractiv the executive is preparing a follow-up to the earlier mission, but would not say if it will extend the invitation or whether the meeting will be hosted in Belgium.

A spokesperson for Belgium’s Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt confirmed to Euractiv that EU countries and the Commission are in technical talks in Brussels about the next mission.

The Commission has previously confirmed holding exploratory contacts at the technical level with Afghanistan’s de facto authorities, in coordination with the EU’s diplomatic service, on the issue of deportations.

Belgium is expected to facilitate visas for the Afghan delegation, although officials stressed that the invitation itself would not formally come from Belgian, reflecting internal political sensitivities. Maxime Prévot, Belgian foreign minister, had been reluctant to issue such an invitation directly, one of the officials said.

A Belgian foreign affairs ministry spokesperson told Euractiv that Brussels has no diplomatic ties with the Taliban and does not invite its representatives, at any level, but host-country rules could oblige Belgium to allow meetings on its soil for the EU. So far, no such request has been made by the Commission, the spokesperson said.

The planned Brussels talks will remain strictly technical in nature, with no political representation, in order to avoid any perception of formal recognition of the Taliban government, three EU officials said. The talks are likely to be held in a neutral venue, such as a hotel in the Belgian capital, rather than on EU premises.

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Discussions are expected to focus on practical cooperation mechanisms, including the identification of Afghan nationals subject to return and the issuance of travel documents.

The Commission had initially resisted extending an invitation independently, citing concerns about acting without a unified mandate from governments, one of the officials mentioned told Euractiv. However, its position shifted after Sweden signalled its willingness to support the initiative.

In October, Van Bossuyt, the Belgian migration minister, led an initiative backed by 19 member states urging greater EU-level coordination on the deportation of irregular and criminal Afghan nationals, Euractiv first reported.

National governments are pressing for an EU-wide mechanism to coordinate the deportation of Afghan nationals, who lack the legal right to remain in the bloc, or have been convicted of crimes.

Hosting the Taliban is controversial because of the authoritarian Islamist regime’s 2024 ban on girls and women from secondary and university education as well as a crackdown on the press and arbitrary detention or torture of critics.

The Swedish migration minister’s office did not reply to a request for comment by the time of publication.