BRUSSELS (Web Desk) - Five years after the United States withdrew from Afghanistan and the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul, the European Union continues to struggle to develop a coherent policy toward the country, with migration concerns increasingly shaping its engagement with the Taliban authorities.
According to a US news outlet, the EU’s approach, centred largely on domestic political priorities such as the deportation of Afghan migrants, has prompted criticism that its responses lack strategic direction and risk contradicting the bloc’s stated principles and interests.
In June 2026, European officials held talks with representatives of the Taliban administration in Brussels, prompting renewed debate over the EU’s engagement with the group and the implications for its policy on human rights, counterterrorism and diplomatic recognition.
Several EU member states, including Sweden, Belgium and Germany, reportedly supported the meeting. Belgium, as the host country, issued visas to a five-member Taliban delegation led by foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi.
The visas were restricted to Belgium, rather than the wider Schengen area, and were valid for only 24 hours.
The meeting was reportedly initiated by Belgium’s minister for migration and asylum, who belongs to a Flemish nationalist party, highlighting the central role of migration concerns in the engagement. The stated objective was to facilitate the return of Afghan nationals from Europe to Afghanistan.
Belgium’s foreign minister opposed the invitation, arguing that engagement could legitimise the Taliban administration, but was reportedly outvoted within the government.
European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner of Austria described the talks as technical in nature, maintaining that they fell short of formal recognition of the Taliban.
However, members of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights opposed the engagement, while human rights advocates and Afghanistan specialists expressed concern that migration-focused cooperation could gradually lead to broader diplomatic acceptance of the regime.
The Taliban delegation reportedly sought control over Afghanistan’s consular offices in European countries in exchange for cooperation on deportations.
Although presented as a practical arrangement, the demand would represent a significant symbolic gain for the Taliban by expanding its administrative presence in Europe.
EU Recognition Benchmarks Remain Unmet
Following the Taliban takeover in 2021, the EU established five benchmarks for recognition, including commitments to counterterrorism, human rights, women’s rights, girls’ education and the formation of an inclusive government.
However, the Taliban’s record across these areas remains a major obstacle to meeting the conditions, with little evidence of substantive progress on the bloc’s key concerns.
Counterterrorism remains one of the most contentious issues. Carter Malkasian, a former US official who advised American forces in Afghanistan from 2010 to 2021, has written that Taliban representatives assured US interlocutors they would not allow Afghan territory to be used to plan or carry out terrorist attacks abroad, while maintaining relations with Al Qaeda.
In a recent essay published in Foreign Affairs, Malkasian recalled that Taliban negotiators in Doha, Qatar, acknowledged working with Al Qaeda while resisting US requests to prohibit the group’s fundraising, recruitment and training activities.
United Nations assessments have documented the presence of more than 20 terrorist organisations in Afghanistan, with estimates of up to 13,000 foreign fighters operating in the country.
These include approximately 6,000 Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, between 2,000 and 3,000 Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-K) operatives, and hundreds of Al Qaeda members.
According to the assessments cited in the report, these groups benefit from sanctuary, freedom of movement and operating space under Taliban rule.
Pakistan has also raised concerns about the cross-border security threat.
Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, has said that the country recorded more than 5,300 terrorism incidents and over 1,200 fatalities in 2025 linked to militants operating from Afghan territory. He also cited the identification of more than 60 terrorist camps and staging areas inside Afghanistan.
Other countries have also reported attacks linked to militants operating from Afghan territory. In November 2025, attacks originating from Afghanistan killed five Chinese nationals and injured five others in Tajikistan within a four-day period.
European officials have acknowledged the continuing security concerns. EU Special Envoy for Afghanistan Gilles Bertrand said in June 2026 that terrorist safe havens, training camps, arms supply chains and financing networks remained operational inside Afghanistan.
The contrast between these assessments and the EU’s engagement with the Taliban has raised questions about the bloc’s ability to reconcile its security concerns with its efforts to secure cooperation on migration. Bertrand resigned in August 2026 without publicly explaining his decision, adding to uncertainty surrounding the EU’s Afghanistan policy.
Restrictions on Women and Minorities Persist
Human rights, particularly the rights of women and girls, constitute another central EU benchmark. However, the Taliban’s restrictions on education, employment and public participation remain extensive.
According to UNICEF, more than 2.6 million Afghan girls are excluded from secondary and higher education. Women also face severe restrictions on employment, freedom of movement and participation in public life.
Ethnic and religious minorities continue to face discrimination, particularly Shia Hazaras, who suffered mass killings under Taliban rule in 1998.
The community has reportedly faced systematic discrimination in access to government services, public positions and justice.
Restrictions have also affected Shia religious practices, including observances associated with Muharram and Ashura, while Shia clerics have been arrested.
The composition of the Taliban’s leadership has further raised concerns about political and ethnic exclusion. Figures cited in the report indicate that Pashtuns occupy approximately 90 per cent of around 1,185 senior leadership positions, despite accounting for an estimated 40 to 45 per cent of Afghanistan’s population.
Tajiks reportedly hold 5.3 per cent of these positions, Uzbeks 2.5 per cent and Hazaras just 0.6 per cent. Women are not represented in these senior leadership positions.
These patterns have reinforced concerns that the Taliban’s commitments under the Doha agreements with the United States were tactical rather than substantive.
With ultimate authority resting with Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, prospects for significant policy changes remain uncertain.
Calls for Conditional Engagement
The EU’s continued engagement with the Taliban, particularly when driven by the immediate objective of facilitating deportations, risks gradually normalising the administration without securing meaningful concessions in return, critics argue.
By prioritising migration cooperation, the bloc could give the Taliban additional leverage while weakening its ability to press for progress on counterterrorism, human rights and inclusive governance.
The policy debate, however, does not necessarily require an end to dialogue. Instead, critics argue that engagement should be conditional, reversible and linked to verifiable changes in Taliban conduct.
These conditions would include dismantling terrorist infrastructure used by the TTP, IS-K and Al Qaeda, restoring girls’ access to secondary and higher education, and ending discrimination against Shia Hazaras and other ethnic and religious minorities.
The EU would also need to establish clear consequences for non-compliance, including suspending cooperation where the Taliban fail to meet agreed conditions.
After five years of Taliban rule, the central question for European policymakers is whether migration-focused engagement can deliver tangible results without undermining the bloc’s wider security and human rights objectives.
Without clear conditions and measurable progress, critics warn, the EU risks gradually conferring legitimacy on the Taliban administration while receiving little in return, leaving its Afghanistan policy reactive rather than strategic.