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Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu advocated on Tuesday, at the extraordinary meeting of the EU top diplomats on the latest developments in Afghanistan, the need to continue international calls for an immediate end to violence on the territory of this country.
The video call meeting was convened by the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell in the context of the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. Discussions focused on political developments, the humanitarian situation, the repatriation process of European citizens, as well as stage assessments on possible directions for EU action.
According to a Foreign Ministry release, Minister Aurescu emphasized the need to protect the lives of the citizens, as well as the need to immediately restore security and civil order, Agerpres informs.
He also stressed the need to ensure the necessary conditions for foreigners and Afghans who wish to leave Afghanistan to do so.
Bogdan Aurescu presented the steps taken by the authorities in Bucharest for the repatriation of Romanian nationals who are still in Afghanistan and announced that Romania is open and evaluates at inter-institutional level the possibility of temporarily taking over, where deemed justified, the local staff who supported the Romanian authorities that carried out their activity in Afghanistan, after a case-by-case analysis, including from a security point of view.
"Romania also expresses its openness and analyzes the possibility of temporarily taking over Afghan personnel who have supported missions of European and Euro-Atlantic organizations, after going through the inter-institutional procedural stages, including the required security validations," the statement said.
Minister Aurescu underscored the need to ensure EU-NATO cooperation and to continue EU's cooperation with international partners regarding Afghanistan, both for the future of this country and for ensuring regional and global security.
With regard to the next period, the Romanian top diplomat said that the concerted transmission by the international community of messages on the need for Afghanistan to comply with its international obligations, including the proper enforcement of international humanitarian law and the observance of human rights, particularly women and children's rights, remains a priority.
At the end of the meeting, High Representative Josep Borrell delivered a statement on behalf of the EU on the situation in Afghanistan
