The Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service for Common Security and Defence Policy and Crisis Response, Charles Fries, explained on Thursday 9 September that 300 Afghan personnel and their families who had been working with the EU’s CSDP mission in Afghanistan EUPOL – which closed in 2016 – are still to be evacuated.
Addressing the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence, Mr Fries explained that between 15 and 30 August, a dedicated crisis cell involving more than 100 staff and a support team in Kabul, along with three military officers, had been working around the clock to help evacuate more than 17,500 people: 4,100 EU nationals and 13,400 Afghans, including 440 EU delegation staff, their families, and 75 contractors who were in danger.
“The Italian, French, German and Belgian contingents in particular provided critical support for the evacuation”, explained the EEAS representative, who added that Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark had also supported transfers via Islamabad. A team was also deployed to the base in Torejon, Spain, to assist with relocating local Afghan staff.
The Deputy Secretary-General noted that the airlift from Kabul was the first large-scale operation involving A400M and A330 MRTT aircraft, which were used “to a great extent”. “They have been developed through European defence cooperation and have proven to be very effective. This is something that should not be underestimated”, he explained.
The Europeans, however, were dependent on the Americans for evacuation. “The need for a European defence has never been more evident”, said Mr Fries. He therefore put forward the idea of an initial entry force and announced that the EU was working on incentives to see how to make it easier to use battle groups that have never been used before.
In broader terms, according to Mr Fries, “Europe sometimes needs to know how to be carnivorous, because if it is herbivorous, it will be eaten by the big powers”. In his opinion, if the EU were not a military alliance without military capabilities, it would not survive on the international stage, it would not be credible, and it would not be respected.
Asked about the EU’s conditions for a relationship with the Taliban (see other news), Fries explained that the EU does have very important levers. “This country has no more money – the funds (at its disposal) are frozen. The Taliban regime, short of starving the population, will have to take into account its lifeless economy, the drought, and Covid”, he explained.
According to him, “a balance of power is being established between the Taliban and the international community. The Taliban need recognition and money, and we have a number of levers of which we can make intelligent use”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)