-Urges US to continue engagement with Afghans
-Ensures Afghans of full support in peace process
-Expressing concern, EU FM says the victims of violence are civilians
Foreign Desk Report
BRUSSELS: EU High Representative for Security and Foreign Affairs, Joseph Borel, said in his speech to the European Parliament that the situation in Afghanistan is “very disappointing” and that violence in the country has escalated over the past few weeks.
Expressing concern over the situation, he said the victims of violence are civilians and more distressingly, out of them, 40% constitute women and children. He said that it seems as if everything that has been achieved to restore peace in the country during the last 20 years, will be of no use.
“The security situation in Afghanistan is evolving quickly. The Taliban control more than half of the country’s territory and have less incentive to compromise, so short-term prospects for a peace deal look bleak.
However, the Taliban know that a large part of the Afghan population do not share their convictions and that ethnic and religious cleavages may come out to the fore in the absence of a negotiated peace settlement.
“Therefore, I wish to underline that the European Union will make every effort to support the peace process and to remain a committed partner to the Afghan people,” he said. Borel said that disengagement from the peace process at the moment was not an option due to several reasons: “Firstly, because over the past two decades, in the last 20 years, we have invested significant political capital and financial resources to support Afghanistan’s stability and development. And also we have lost quite an important number of lives of our soldiers,” he explained.
He said the human rights situation and women empowerment had definitely improved in the country, adding that women were no longer living in the medieval conditions that they used to live in, during the Taliban regime.
“But these achievements can be very much jeopardised, these achievements are in danger because Afghanistan today is at a crossroads. They are living critical times and in order to safeguard the achievements that the Afghan people have made during these years,” he added.
