The UN Secretary General’s deputy special representative for Afghanistan, Markus Potzel, has called on Germany and other Western countries to reopen their embassies in Kabul.
Potzel, who was German ambassador to Afghanistan between 2014 and 2016, believes that a diplomatic presence in Kabul would allow for a “better assessment of the situation” rather than from a distance.
“It’s difficult to do it from Doha or Berlin,” the UN representative has assessed in an interview for RND.
“Germany and other Western countries have interests in Afghanistan, let’s not forget that,” said Potzel, for whom it would be a good idea for more Western countries to have representation in the Afghan capital again.
Potzel, however, clarified that having a diplomatic legation there does not necessarily imply “recognition of the Taliban (IEA) regime,” but rather an interest in a stable Afghanistan in which the Islamic State [Daesh] would not find it easy to develop, he explained.
“The international community has an interest in combating terrorism.
It has an interest in ensuring that the people of the country are offered prospects so that there is no repeat of a wave of refugees like the one we saw in 2015.
These are all interests that, in my opinion, are worth fighting for and being present on the ground,” he stressed.
“The humanitarian situation is precarious. Winter has arrived. People need fuel, they need something to eat, they need medicine (…) On the one hand, we don’t want to support the regime, and on the other hand, we don’t want to let people down,” he added.
This comes meanwhile the reopening of embassies and diplomatic missions of countries in Afghanistan is one of the long-standing wishes of the Islamic Emirate, which has been emphasized many times by government officials, especially by Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi.—Ariana news
