In Germany, the Afghan crisis rekindles the specter of a new migration crisis – archyworldys

Twenty-four hours after the capture of Kabul by the Taliban, Germany admitted to having some responsibility in the tragedy in Afghanistan. “We have all misjudged the development of the situation, and I take responsibility for it myself. Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a press conference on Monday August 16, calling the situation in Afghanistan “Heartbreaking, dramatic and terrible”.

“We must not try to embellish things. All of us – government, intelligence services and the international community – were not able to see that the Afghan armed forces were not ready to confront the Taliban ”, had recognized the German Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, earlier today. “We have all made an error of appreciation and we will certainly talk about it again”, he added, specifying that he wanted “Learn the lessons and consequences of this affair”.

A month and a half after the departure of the last German soldiers from Afghanistan and six weeks before the legislative elections of September 26, it is not certain that this beginning of self-criticism on the part of the government will be enough to put an end to a controversy that has took in a few hours a considerable extent across the Rhine. “A historic debacle for Chancellor Merkel”, headline, Monday evening, the tabloid Bild. “The Vietnam of Germany”, accused, for its part, the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Same story on the left: “The Afghan case is a shame for German policy”, estimated, for his part, the Tagesspiegel. According to a survey of the Civey institute for the Spiegel, 76% of respondents believe that “Germany failed in Afghanistan”.

Cacophony

Within Angela Merkel’s grand coalition, the cacophony is total. In his own party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Heiko Maas, the head of social democratic diplomacy (SPD), is accused of having ignored the alarmist messages sent by the German embassy in Kabul, delaying the repatriation of German nationals present in Afghanistan. At the SPD, the blame is blamed on the conservative defense and interior ministers, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) and Horst Seehofer, of the Christian Social Union (CSU), accused of having slowed down the evacuation Afghans who worked for the Germans and who are now risking their lives with the coming to power of the Taliban.

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