EU FOREIGN ministers have promised more aid for Afghanistan following the publication of a report that warns the political and security situation in the country is deteriorating.
The ministers have also condemned the fraud that marred August’s presidential election and promised to send EU observers to monitor a second round of elections next week.
“We are not only faced with a critical security situation. Progress on political reform, governance and state-building is too slow, and in some parts of the country almost non-existent,” says a report published following yesterday’s EU foreign ministers’ meeting.
The report, EU action plan for Afghanistan and Pakistan, warns that achieving a step change in Afghanistan is a formidable challenge that requires concerted national, regional and international action. This requires a “responsive and responsible Afghan government”, and cannot be solved without solving the complex problems in Pakistan.
“The situation in Afghanistan has a direct impact on Europe. Many of the most serious global threats facing us today are present in the region,” says the report, which has been published amid growing public scepticism in the US and EU about the commitment of troops to the country to fight an eight-year-old war against Taliban insurgents.
US President Barack Obama is considering whether to send more troops to Afghanistan to join an existing US contingent of 65,000 troops. EU states have deployed 35,000 troops, although some face conditions on where they can operate. “There clearly needs to be a new start in Afghanistan,” said Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, who chaired the meeting as his country holds the EU presidency. “What we’ve seen in the last few months with the presidential elections is declining confidence both internally and externally in the efforts of Afghanistan. That must be repaired.”
The action plan calls for enhanced, better co-ordinated and concerted international support for Afghanistan. Political and civilian leadership must go hand in hand with security measures and developments on the ground. The Afghan state must take full responsibility, but this does not equal an international “exit strategy”, says the report.
The EU is spending almost €1 billion a year on political, civilian and development activities in Afghanistan. The European Commission has signalled it will spend an additional €200 million in the coming months to support the new strategy.
EU foreign ministers have also promised to commit more police to the EU police mission (EUPOL) in Afghanistan, which is training local police. So far the union has provided just 271 of the 400 police trainers it had pledged.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said the EU was encountering difficulties getting enough police for the mission. He said there was one Irish member of EUPOL but it would be difficult to provide additional personnel due to other Irish commitments, for example in Chad and Kosovo. “We are fairly stretched,” he said.
European commissioner for external relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner said EU observers would monitor the presidential election run-off.