The Foreign Ministry is sending a crisis team to Afghanistan to help those Austrians who are still in Afghanistan to leave the country. Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (VP) announced this on Tuesday. Around 25 Austrians and around 20 Afghans with valid residence permits in Austria had reported in the past 72 hours and asked for help with their departure. The majority of these people are in the greater Kabul area.
The crisis team is supposed to help those affected to get to the airport in Kabul and to be accommodated in one of the evacuation flights from other countries. Austria does not send its own plane because the problem is currently not the flight capacity, but to get to the airport, said Schallenberg. For the evacuation there is already “a concrete offer of help from our German friends”. The Austrians are mostly Austrians with Afghan roots who were visiting the country and had not registered for travel, said the Foreign Minister.
The West is “in ruins” in Afghanistan, said Schallenberg. There is no point in pointing the finger at others, because it is “a fiasco that affects us all equally.” Austria is making three million euros available from the Foreign Disaster Fund (AKF) for Afghanistan and the region, announced the Foreign Minister. This is intended to support the UNHCR so that refugees can be cared for directly in the region. “Because one goal unites us all in Europe: We must not repeat the mistakes of 2015,” he said. Therefore, he also expects a signal from the special meeting of the EU foreign ministers, said Schallenberg before the start of the meeting. The neighboring countries of Afghanistan and the transit countries should also be included in the European endeavors.
Schallenberg called for a “clear common line” from the EU states to deal with the new rulers in Afghanistan. Afghanistan must not become “a security black hole” and “an incubator of international terrorism”. Therefore, there must be clear demands on the Taliban to even consider cooperation with the Taliban. There should be no lynching and no support for terrorists like IS and Al-Qaeda. “Fundamental rights and freedoms of all Afghans, especially women and minorities – are a condition qua non for us,” said Schallenberg. The EU wants to continue the partnership with the Afghan people, said Schallenberg. But a partnership only works with a responsible and reasonable counterpart.
