BRUSSELS, May 12 (Reuters) – The European Union is planning to invite officials from Afghanistan’s Taliban government to Brussels for their first known official visit, to discuss ways to deport some Afghan migrants back to Afghanistan.
Western countries have declined to recognise the Taliban since the Islamist fighters swept back to power in Afghanistan five years ago, overthrowing a government that had been backed by U.S. and NATO troops for two decades.
An EU spokesperson said the planned Brussels meeting was being set up in response to a request from several EU member states. No date had been set yet, and the meeting did not mean the EU had recognized the Taliban.
The meeting appeared to be the first publicly announced visit by Taliban officials to Brussels, although the spokesperson said he was not able to confirm this.
EU officials had already travelled to Kabul for a meeting in January, the spokesperson said, and the EU was now working “on a potential follow-up meeting at technical level in Brussels with the de-facto authorities in Afghanistan to pursue these discussions”.
Hundreds of thousands of Afghans have sought asylum in Europe since the Taliban takeover of the country. European law allows some migrants who commit crimes or are considered a security threat to be deported, but this has been difficult to carry out with Afghanistan because of the lack of diplomatic relations.
The EU spokesperson said Sweden was helping to coordinate the planned Brussels meeting. The Swedish government did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Amina IsmailAdditional reporting by Essi LehtoWriting by Charlotte Van CampenhoutEditing by Peter Graff)