Gabrielius Landsbergis: We will not allow the unity of the allies to fall victim to the Taliban
On 17 August, Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis took part in the extraordinary video conference of the European Union (EU) Foreign Affairs Council where an exceptionally complex situation in Afghanistan, with the Taliban taking power there, was discussed.
“We must be ready – with the Taliban having taken control of Kabul, the EU and an international community will face a new geopolitical reality and new challenges. The first threat is humanitarian while what will follow is the unity of the allies. We must not allow this. The transatlantic unity is important as never before. We have to agree with the US and other partners on further actions and future relations with the new Taliban-dominated administration in Afghanistan in order to outweigh the influence of encroaching authoritarian powers in the region,” Mr Landsbergis said.
Mr Minister believes that the EU needs a strategically new approach towards external migration and protection of EU’s external borders as it is highly probable that the flow of migrants and refugees from Afghanistan will grow.
“On the one hand, we need to be active in helping people in need, and on the other, we need to be decisive in protecting our border from instrumentalized migration; illegal migration should not become a political weapon used against the EU value-based foreign policy. We must be ready to counter such hybrid attacks,” Gabrielius Landsbergis underlined.
In Mr Minister’s opinion, in solidarity with and by coordinating actions with its partners, Lithuania is committed to giving refuge to Afghan interpreters and their family members.
Foreign Minister Landsbergis also highlighted a necessity to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for terrorist organisations hence posing terrorist threats again. It is important to send a message to the Taliban that if there are human rights violations, particularly those of women and girls, if journalists are persecuted, the international community will have to take every measure to isolate the regime and hold it accountable for serious human rights violations.
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