Dec 4, 2021: French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that several European countries were considering opening a joint diplomatic mission in Afghanistan, but stressed that this would not mean recognizing the country’s Taliban rulers.

Western nations are scrambling to find a way to negotiate with the Taliban, who seized Afghanistan in a lightning strike in August as US-led forces completed their withdrawal after a 20-year war.

“We are thinking of an organisation between several European countries … a common location for several Europeans, which would allow our ambassadors to be present,” Macron told reporters in Doha before heading to his next destination, Saudi Arabia.

“This is a different demarche than a political recognition or political dialogue with the Taliban … we will have a representation as soon as we can open,” he said.

The French president stressed that the move would not signal political recognition or political dialogue with the Taliban. A week after talks with the Taliban, the European Union suggested in a statement that it could open a mission soon. The EU delegation stressed that the possibility of establishing a minimum ground presence in Kabul, which would not be identified, would depend directly on the security situation, as well as the EU’s assurance.

“The EU delegation underlined that the possibility of establishing a minimal presence on the ground in Kabul, which would not entail recognition, will directly depend on the security situation, as well as on effective decisions by the de facto authorities to allow the EU to ensure adequate protection of its staff and premises,” it said.

Macron, meanwhile, praised Qatar’s role in helping European citizens evacuate from Afghanistan following the return of the Taliban to power following the fall of the Western-backed government.

Afghanistan’s new rulers have appealed to the international community for diplomatic recognition and lifting of sanctions, as they struggle to revive the country’s economy cut off from international financial institutions. Decades of war and US-led military occupation have already destroyed the country’s infrastructure.

The United States has frozen nearly $10 billion in Afghanistan’s central bank reserves, and international financial institutions have suspended development funds for the country, putting aid-dependent economies in crisis and economists.

Aid groups have been warned of humanitarian catastrophe.

With the onset of winter, aid agencies have warned of a humanitarian crisis. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) called this week a “dangerous” socio-economic outlook for Afghanistan for the next 13 months.

In Afghanistan, more than 24 million people are in need of life-saving assistance, a dramatic increase due to political turmoil, economic shocks, and severe food insecurity.

The UNDP has projected that poverty may become nearly universal by mid-2022.

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