Afghanistan, Di Maio: “Judging Taliban by actions, not by words”

“It is important to act in a coordinated manner towards the Taliban. We must judge them by their actions, not by their words. We have some leverage, albeit limited, on them such as isolation from the international community and continued assistance to the Taliban. development provided so far. We must maintain a firm stance on respect for human rights and freedoms, and convey clear messages all together. ” This was stated – according to what is learned – by the Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio, at the extraordinary G7 called to deal with the emergency in Afghanistan. The Farnesina owner then explained that “with the last flights landed in Rome, more than 500 Afghans have already arrived in Italy, including former collaborators and families. Our plan is to transfer to Italy about 2,500 Afghans who have collaborated over the years with the Italian institutions “. “In recent days we have evacuated most of our compatriots and some of the local staff of the Embassy, ​​together with some members of the local staff of the EU delegation in Kabul and of the NATO office”, explained the head of the foreign ministry. “It is essential – he added – to reiterate the call for full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to the country by international organizations. The international community must continue to provide essential life-saving assistance to the Afghan population”. For Di Maio, it is also “essential to maintain close coordination between allies in order to set up a shared strategy towards the new situation in Kabul. Italy, as President of the G20 and a country in close coordination with the G7, plans to convene an ad hoc leader-level meeting to promote in-depth discussion among members on Afghanistan. This will provide an opportunity to broaden support for a common approach. ” “The G20 format will allow us to coordinate our position with other important partners: Russia, China and Turkey”, added the head of the Farnesina. On the humanitarian front, “we all expect an increasing number of asylum seekers and migrants from Afghanistan. This is a problem that we cannot fail to address together with the international community. We need to define a common policy and response in this regard. There are no national solutions. for a problem of this magnitude “, said the foreign minister. “As regards development cooperation, we have suspended ‘de facto’ all bilateral initiatives involving the Afghan authorities. We are instead ready to contribute to emergency response initiatives carried out by international organizations”, added Di Maio announcing that ” we have already disbursed the first contribution of 250 thousand euros to UNHCR to deal with the humanitarian emergency “.