BRUSSELS, June 23. /Dunyo IA/. Belgium has issued five visas to members of an Afghan delegation to participate in a European Union meeting on migration issues in Brussels, reports Dunyo IA correspondent, citing the “Al Jazeera” TV channel.

The meeting is expected to be the first time the EU has received representatives of the Taliban movement since it returned to power in Afghanistan nearly five years ago. After that, European countries closed their embassies in Kabul.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of Belgium told the channel that the visas were granted after a security screening. They are valid only within Belgium and only for one day.

The European Commission stated that it invited Taliban officials to discuss issues of irregular migration from Afghanistan to the 27 EU member states, as well as the deportation of Afghans whose asylum applications were rejected.

“Member States are looking into ways to return persons who have committed serious crimes and who are possibly a security threat. So this is the initiative that the Commission is now following up on,” said European Commission spokesperson Markus Lammert at a daily news briefing.

At the same time, the Commission stressed that holding the meeting does not imply official recognition of Taliban authority by Brussels. It was not specified which representatives of the movement were invited to the talks. Several senior Taliban leaders remain under EU sanctions.

“The focus for member states is very much on persons who have committed serious crimes or who pose a security threat,” Markus Lammert noted.

According to the EU, from 2013 to 2024, member states received about one million asylum applications from Afghan citizens. Around 20 of the 27 EU countries expressed interest last year in returning migrants who have no legal right to remain in Europe, especially those with criminal convictions, to Afghanistan.

Earlier, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner supported the initiative of contacts with the Taliban, stating that Brussels has no choice but to engage in talks with the de facto authorities of Afghanistan regarding the return of Afghan asylum seekers who entered EU countries illegally.

European Union’s legislation allows the deportation of individuals convicted of serious crimes or deemed a security threat, but this issue remains limited due to the lack of diplomatic relations with the current authorities of the country.

Photo by Reuters