Sharp Criticism of EU “Technical” Talks with the Taliban: “These Negotiations Are Political and a Betrayal”Reporter: Shahbano Noori

Sharp Criticism of EU “Technical” Talks with the Taliban: “These Negotiations Are Political and a Betrayal”Reporter: Shahbano Noori

The European Union has announced that its upcoming talks with the Taliban will be “technical” in nature; however, this stance has drawn strong criticism from a number of experts and human rights activists. Critics argue that the discussions are not merely technical, but clearly political, and could lead to the indirect legitimization of the Taliban.

In this context, Dr. Petuni Tichman, in strongly worded remarks, described the negotiations as “a form of betrayal.” According to her, such an approach betrays Afghan women who are living under what she called a system of “gender apartheid,” as well as the promises made by the international community following the events of 2021.

She emphasized that there is a clear contradiction in the European Union’s policies: “One cannot condemn the Taliban’s widespread human rights violations on the one hand, and on the other, coordinate with them to return or deport Afghan migrants.”

In her view, such actions cannot simply be described as “political realism,” but rather amount to a normalization of relations with the Taliban. She warned that if human rights principles are negotiable in exchange for migration control, then they have never truly been fundamental values.

In conclusion, Dr. Tichman called on the European Union to halt this process before it begins and to seriously reconsider its policies. So far, no new official response has been issued by EU officials regarding these criticisms.

Reporter: Shahbano Noori