Overview
- Belgium issued one-day visas after a Monday intelligence check found the five Taliban representatives did not pose a security threat, and the delegation was expected to travel via Turkey to Brussels on Tuesday.
- The European Commission, working with Sweden, framed the meetings as technical-level contacts focused on practical arrangements for returning certain Afghan migrants rather than political recognition of the Taliban.
- Human Rights Watch and other NGOs sharply criticized the engagement, saying cooperation on forced returns risks undermining EU credibility and could expose returnees to rights abuses in Afghanistan.
- The decision exposed splits in Belgium's politics because the government hosts EU institutions and must facilitate such meetings even though some ministers publicly opposed inviting Taliban representatives.
- Longer-term pressure from about twenty EU member states seeking diplomatic routes for returns drives the move, and the EU has received roughly 1 million Afghan asylum applications between 2013 and 2024, with about half granted.