BRUSSELS — The
EU on Tuesday pledged a
one-billion-euro aid package for Afghanistan, "to avert a major
humanitarian and socio-economic collapse," the bloc's chief
Ursula von derLeyen said.
اضافة اعلان
The money adds 250 million euros to a 300-million-euro sum
the EU previously announced for urgent humanitarian needs, with the remainder
going to Afghanistan's neighboring countries taking in Afghans fleeing Taliban
rule, a statement said.
Von der Leyen made the pledge at a virtual
G20 summit hosted
by Italy dedicated to discussing the humanitarian and security situation in
Afghanistan.
Her statement stressed that the EU funds are "direct
support" for Afghans and would be channeled to international organizations
working on the ground, not to the Taliban's interim government which Brussels
does not recognize.
EU development aid — different from humanitarian aid —
remains frozen.
"We must do all we can to avert a major humanitarian
and socioeconomic collapse in Afghanistan. We need to do it fast," von der
Leyen said, observing that winter was approaching.
"We have been clear about our conditions for any
engagement with the Afghan authorities, including on the respect of human
rights. So far, the reports speak for themselves. But the Afghan people should
not pay the price of the Taliban's actions," she said.
EU countries are wary at the prospect of a surge of
Afghan asylum-seekers trying to enter the bloc, as happened in 2015 with Syrians
fleeing their war.
Brussels' calculation is that donating money to help stabilize
Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and help out countries between it and
Europe could
stem any flow.
Von der Leyen has said EU countries -- especially those that
participated in the NATO mission that hastily decamped in August as the Taliban
swept to power — have a "moral duty" to help Afghans.
The one-billion-euro aid package announced will boost
spending in health in Afghanistan. In the neighboring countries it will go to
help with migration management and promote cooperation in fighting terrorism,
crime and migrant smuggling.
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