European Union Hosts Taliban Officials for Limited Talks for First Time

Human rights groups and European politicians charge that this legitimizes the Islamist regime running Afghanistan.

European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels on July 16, 2025. Yves Herman/Reuters

The European Union for the first time hosted Afghanistan’s Taliban government in Brussels, a move that human rights activists and European politicians say legitimizes the Islamist regime.

A spokesman for the European Commission—the EU’s executive branch—said in a June 23 statement that the limited, technical-level talks with Afghanistan’s “de facto authorities” were necessary for deporting Afghan nationals who are dangerous or have committed crimes.

The EU and its 27 member states have not recognized the Taliban regime as the legitimate government since it returned to power five years ago.

“The Commission services and Sweden co-chaired a technical-level meeting today in Brussels with technical-level representatives of the de facto authorities of Afghanistan responsible for return and readmission,” the European Commission spokesperson said.

Speaking to reporters on June 22, the commission’s spokesman, Markus Lammert, said that member states “are looking into ways to return persons who have committed serious crimes and who are possibly a security threat. So ​this is the initiative that the Commission is now following up on.”

Afghani Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said the agenda included a possible consular presence in the EU, resumption of consular services for ​Afghani citizens in the bloc, and “the need for trust-building measures.”

The meeting raised “hope to build positive momentum to safeguard consular rights of Afghans ‌residing abroad,” ⁠Balkhi said.

The Belgian Foreign Ministry had issued visas that allowed the five Afghan government representatives to attend the meeting in Brussels, but restricted their presence to one day and only on Belgian soil—not affording the visitors Schengen Area free movement across dozens of other European countries.

Criticisms

The Taliban first captured Kabul in 1996 but was ousted in November 2001 by a U.S.-led force that intervened after 9/11 to root out Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network, which had used Afghanistan as a base.

In August 2021, Kabul fell to the Taliban again, four months after U.S. President Joe Biden announced he would withdraw all U.S. troops by Sept. 11, 2021.

Since returning to power, the Taliban ​has enforced Sharia laws and curtailed rights, including stopping women from accessing higher education and banning girls from education beyond primary school, as well as ordering women to cover their faces in public.

​Hannah Neumann, a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Green Party in Germany, said that the Taliban should not be invited to Brussels.

“This gives in to blackmailing [and] normalisation,” she wrote on X.

Neumann shared a joint letter on the social media platform condemning the visit and signed by dozens of other MEPs, European national politicians, and human rights activists.

“Such meetings are not technical exercises,” the letter read.

“Each invitation, each visa, each official meeting provides the Taliban with what they have sought since taking power: political legitimacy and international recognition.

“The Taliban would present a visit to Brussels as evidence that Europe is normalising relations, despite the complete absence of progress on the conditions established by the EU itself.”

The signatories urged Brussels to refrain from inviting Taliban representatives to Brussels or other European capitals for any diplomatic or political negotiations, and “prioritise engagement with Afghan civil society, women human rights defenders, and victims of Taliban persecution.”

Some nations have normalized relations with the Taliban in Afghanistan, including Russia.

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu said on May 14 that Moscow was establishing a “fully-fledged partnership” with the Afghan Taliban leadership, including political and security contacts.

Russia last year became the first country to formally recognize the Taliban government after it seized power ​in August 2021.

Reuters contributed to this report.