EU envoy raises issues of girls' education, face veil with top Afghan diplomat

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - The EU special envoy on Afghanistan and the country’s acting foreign minister on Sunday discussed the issues of security, girls’ education, and compulsory face veil for women.

In a meeting with acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in the Afghan capital Kabul, EU envoy Tomas Niklasson also shared his views on continued efforts to improve the economic situation, education, and environment for people to work, Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said in a statement.

Niklasson told Muttaqi that “continued talks” are the only way to address all problems, according to Balkhi.

Muttaqi assured the visiting European representative that no “threat would be posed to other countries from Afghanistan’s soil.”

“The two sides emphasized enhanced cooperation between Afghanistan and the EU leading to improved livelihood of the people in various spheres,” said Balkhi.

In a series of tweets, Niklasson said he told the Afghan official that there is “deep skepticism among many in the EU” about whether talks with the Taliban have been “meaningful.”

However, he acknowledged that “closing the dialogue was a worse option.”

By barring girls above the sixth grade from schools, the Taliban have failed “to deliver on the commitment to the Afghan people to reopen secondary schools,” the EU official said.

Niklasson said he also expressed the EU’s concern over the Taliban’s recent order for women to cover their faces in public, as well as the group’s “suggestion that the best place for women is at home, although domestic violence is rising.”

The two sides also discussed “security concerns by many of Afghanistan’s neighbors and their apparent lack of confidence in the capacity or intent of the Taliban to address these,” said Niklasson.