Xinhua News Agency, Brussels, August 28. Summary: Hastily withdrawing from Afghanistan, the United States hurts Europe
Xinhua News Agency reporter
In the past few days, the situation in Afghanistan has changed drastically. The hastily withdrawal of the United States has hurt European allies trapped in the battlefield in Afghanistan. Some European countries had to stop their evacuation operations due to lack of security. The new wave of refugees caused by the Afghan crisis may cause geographically neighboring European countries to suffer the bitter fruits of the United States.
At the same time, the chaotic withdrawal of Afghanistan has also caused European politicians and public opinion to question whether Europe should continue to maintain a high degree of strategic dependence on the United States. They called on Europe to implement an independent foreign and security policy and to develop a military force independent of the United States.
Allies’ withdrawal was forced to stop
The leaders of the Group of Seven nations held a video conference on the 24th to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. Soon after the meeting, U.S. President Biden announced that the U.S. is striving to complete the evacuation before August 31, ignoring the request of Britain, France and other countries to extend this period. German Chancellor Merkel said frankly after the meeting that it would be difficult for other countries to continue their evacuation operations without the support of the US military.
Merkel said on the 26th that Germany ended the evacuation of the Bundeswehr from Afghanistan that day.
However, according to estimates by the German media, there are still more than 200 German citizens stranded in Afghanistan, and this number is still rising because of constant contact and evacuation.
The French government issued a statement on the 28th that the French side had stopped air evacuation from Afghanistan on the evening of the 27th due to the inability to meet the security conditions of Kabul Airport.
Belgian Prime Minister De Crowe said on the 26th that the Belgian government has decided to end the evacuation of overseas Chinese on the evening of the 25th due to related terrorist threats. He expressed regret that the United States decided to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan without consulting with allies. He said: “NATO’s operations in Afghanistan follow the principle of’advancing together and retreating together’. Obviously, the United States‘ decision to leave Afghanistan surprised many partners.”
Refugees may become trouble again
In the fall of 2015, continuing wars in West Asia and North Africa forced millions of refugees to cross the border into the European Union, triggering a refugee crisis in Europe, which not only brought pressure on the economies and societies of many countries, but also led to the rise of xenophobia and populism in Germany and other countries. Today, some EU member states worry that the situation in Afghanistan may once again trigger a similar refugee crisis.
According to EU statistics, as of the end of 2020, there were 2.9 million homeless people in Afghanistan, which has increased by 550,000 this year. The European Commission’s internal affairs commissioner Johansson recently stated that the unstable situation in Afghanistan may increase the pressure on refugees facing the EU.
Effie Pedaliu, a visiting researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science, recently said that Europe has not yet recovered from the refugee crisis in 2015. This time, Europe is “unprepared” again facing the upcoming Afghan refugee problem.
On the evening of the 26th, Austrian Chancellor Kurz once again stated that Austria is determined not to accept new Afghan refugees, and that Austria will be committed to providing assistance locally, instead of repeating the mistakes made in 2015. At the same time, Greece and other EU border countries are expanding the border fence with Turkey to prevent the flood of refugees from hitting.
Europe reflects on strategic autonomy
French President Macron said in an exclusive interview with the British “The Economist” in November 2019 that NATO has been “brain dead” and once again called for the development of “strategic autonomy” in Europe. This time, the rapid and unilateral withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan made its European allies realize once again that Europe should realize its diplomatic and security independence as soon as possible.
Finnish President Niinisto recently stated that the EU’s role in the Afghanistan crisis is very “invisible.” In order to be able to independently respond to the growing political pressures of major powers, Europe needs to exert its own strength.
German television news station n-tv published a commentary on the 26th, saying that the German soldiers who risked their lives to save their lives depended on the face of the Americans at the last moment. “Europeans have worked hard for decades without developing their own military power. This is a clear sign of powerlessness.”
The European Union’s high representative for foreign and security policy Borelli recently stated that the chaotic evacuation situation in Afghanistan has sounded the alarm that Europe needs to develop military capabilities independent of the United States.
“We need to ask whether NATO needs reform,” Czech President Zeman said in an interview with the media. Take orders.” (Reporters involved: Ren Ke, Zhang Yuan, Pan Geping, Xu Feng, Tang Ji, Liu Fang, Zhu Haochen, Chen Jing, Yang Xiaohong, Fu Yiming, Yu Tao, Lin Jing, Guo Qun) (End)Return to Sohu to see more
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