The EU Council said in a statement that it approved the conclusions that reaffirms the EU’s “principled commitment to peace and stability in Afghanistan and to supporting the people of the country.”
“The Council reinstates the validity of the five benchmarks outlined in the Council Conclusion of September 2021, welcomes the EU’s presence in Kabul, and recalls the importance of the work of the EU Special Envoy for Afghanistan in conveying the EU’s position, including in dialogues with regional and international partners, in line with the EU’s strategic interests,” the statement reads.
The EU condemned the “large-scale and systematic gender-based discrimination by the Taliban who, through their discriminatory decision to ban women from working for national and international non-governmental organisations, are impeding the delivery of humanitarian assistance and basic needs support to the Afghan people.”
The statement reads that the EU remains committed to continuing its assistance to alleviate the severe humanitarian and socio-economic crisis, by providing humanitarian and basic needs and livelihoods support “within a principled approach, where women can meaningfully participate in its delivery and where women remain beneficiaries.”
“Where activities cannot be continued in line with the EU’s principled approach, the EU support to those activities will be reconsidered,” the statement said.
