Afghanistan: Emmanuel Macron announces the dispatch of two military planes and special forces – archyde

While the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, heads of state publicly share their concern about the future of this Central Asian country. “Afghanistan must not once again become the sanctuary of terrorism that it wasEmmanuel Macron reacted on Monday, August 16, during a televised address following a defense council devoted to the Taliban’s seizure of power over Kabul. It is a stake for international peace and stability, against a common enemy, terrorism and those who support it; in this regard, we will do everything so that Russia, the United States and Europe can cooperate effectively, because our interests are the same. “

The Head of State added that he wanted to carry a European initiative aimed at ” to anticipate “ and “Protect against significant irregular migratory flows” who “Feed trafficking of all kinds”, calling for “Solidarity in the effort, the harmonization of protection criteria and the establishment of cooperation with transit countries, such as Pakistan, Turkey or Iran”.

Emmanuel Macron also declared that the “Duty and dignity” from France were ” protect “ the Afghans who helped her and who are threatened by the arrival of the Taliban to power, like the “Interpreters, drivers, cooks and many others. Nearly 800 people are already on French soil. Several dozen people are still there (…) for which we remain fully mobilized ”.

He confirmed that “Two military planes and our special forces” would arrive “In the next few hours” at Kabul airport to take care of these people and French nationals still present in the Afghan capital and who “Must all leave the country”.

France will “The maximum to protect personalities [afghanes] who have defended human rights – journalists, artists…, all those who are committed to these values ​​that we continue to defend all over the world ”, had specified earlier in the day the minister of the armies, Florence Parly, on Franceinfo.

On Monday morning, France launched the operation to evacuate its last nationals – including diplomats, aid workers and journalists – to the French Al Dhafra air base in Abu Dhabi.

US withdrawal criticized by Merkel

The President of the Republic had met in the afternoon with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, in order to determine a common position.

Monday evening, before Emmanuel Macron’s speech, the German Chancellor deplored, during a press conference in Berlin, that the Western intervention in Afghanistan was not so “Fruitful” than hoped. And to specify: “It is now a given that Al-Qaida can no longer carry out attacks against the United States from Afghanistan, as they did on September 11, 2001, but all that followed (…) was not done as we expected. ” The Chancellor had previously spoken to executives of her party of the reasons “Domestic policy” for the American withdrawal.

For his part, the former German foreign minister at the time of the deployment of the troops of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Joschka Fischer, had also crushed the American decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. ” A mistake “, according to him. “We are seeing the consequences today”, he lamented. The bitterness in Germany is all the greater, as it was the second country contributing foreign troops to Afghanistan during the last twenty years, behind the United States, with approximately 150,000 troops deployed.

Faced with this wave of criticism never seen since the US election in November, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, has remained silent since the takeover of the Taliban. He was due to speak Monday at 9.45 p.m. in a highly anticipated speech. On August 10, Mr. Biden assured that he would not “Not regret” its decision to withdraw the last American soldiers from the country on August 31.

A meeting scheduled between European ministers

For his part, Boris Johnson called on G7 leaders on Monday evening to organize a virtual meeting. “In the next” days, insisting on “The need for the international community (…) adopt a unified approach to Afghanistan, both in terms of recognizing any future government and working to prevent a humanitarian crisis ”.

The proposal comes after the European foreign ministers have already planned to meet on Tuesday, during a meeting by videoconference, announced Josep Borrell, the head of diplomacy of the European Union (EU), Monday on Twitter. “Afghanistan is at a crossroads. The security and well-being of its citizens, as well as international security, are at stake ”, he added. According to diplomats, European Commission officials have called on the governments of the 27 to grant visas to Afghan nationals who have worked for the EU representation in Afghanistan, as well as their families, for an estimated total of some 500 or 600 people. The EU executive does not have the authority to issue visas itself. Several diplomatic sources assured late Monday afternoon that member states had already committed to providing enough visas for Commission employees – including Afghan nationals – and their families. The challenge now is to get them out of the country, when Kabul airport was the scene of scenes of total chaos on Monday, with thousands of Afghans flocking there to desperately seek a flight.

Twenty years after being ousted from it by a coalition led by the United States because of its refusal to hand over the leader of al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden, in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, the radical Islamist movement s ‘ready to return to power. In ten days, the Taliban, who launched their offensive in May after the start of the final withdrawal of foreign troops, especially American troops, took control of almost the whole country. The debacle is total for the Afghan security forces, yet funded for twenty years by hundreds of billions of dollars by the United States.