The cabinet is launching a diplomatic offensive to drive back Dutch and Afghan allies from Afghanistan. As with Germany, Great Britain and France, pressure is being increased on ‘many countries in the region’, for example to allow those who manage to exit Afghanistan by land.
America reported last night a joint statement Along with a hundred countries, including the Netherlands, to make promises to the Taliban that foreigners and Afghans who are on the evacuation list can leave the country.
Outgoing Foreign Minister Sigrid Kag will visit several countries in the region this week. Her spokesperson cannot say which country she is from and with whom she will speak.
According to insiders, Kag will at least visit neighboring countries of Pakistan, Turkey and Qatar. The Taliban has an office in that Gulf state. The countries that have contact with the regime are holding talks in Doha, the capital of Qatar. It is not known whether Kag’s planned visit to the country means she will speak to the Taliban.
Airport
Kag wants to travel to Turkey as that country will play a major role in the reopening of the airport in Kabul. The Taliban has asked for technical assistance from the Turks, Turkey will be ready to do so. Pakistan is a logical destination: Defense military flights from Kabul have landed in Islamabad in recent weeks. It is located at a distance of 500 km from the Pakistani capital, Kabul.
“Everything is being done to get people out from behind the scenes,” a source said. In doing so, ‘all options’ are considered, such as clearance by land. In their discussions, Kag may argue in favor of granting entry and visas to those who are still on the Dutch evacuation list and who report at the border. Anyway, his German counterpart Heino Maas makes a similar discussion.
macros from root
Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte is also in “constant contact with government leaders” on Afghanistan. He will travel to Paris on Tuesday to talk to President Emmanuel Macron. Root called German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday and previously spoke on the phone with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Those conversations, the sources say, aim to “represent one way or another” in Kabul as quickly as possible. In this the European allies want to ‘work together’. There will be no more diplomatic posts in the Afghan capital after the Dutch embassy team left on Thursday evening.
In recent weeks, the Netherlands evacuated 2,500 people from Afghanistan, 1,600 of whom had Dutch passports or the Netherlands as their final destination. Others flew to other countries. Earlier, the government had also said that it would investigate whether private security companies in afghanistan could help evacuate Dutch citizens left behind.
Watch our videos about the situation in Afghanistan in the playlist below:
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