Members of the governments of Austria, Denmark, Germany and Greece held an online meeting with representatives of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, discussing the current situation in Afghanistan.
As reported on the sa nd those of Turkmenistan, in addition to political events sides discussed issues of assistance to refugees and humanitarian assistance to the Afghan population.
Representatives of the Turkmen side called on international partners "to search for mutually acceptable ways to provide humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people," the Foreign Ministry reports.
Following the meeting, the parties agreed to continue the dialogue.
Edition of Der Standard reports that of Austria, the meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Alexander Shallenberg (Alexander Schallenberg) and Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (by Karl Nehammer) . According to officials, this meeting had three goals: to clarify the situation in Afghanistan's neighboring countries, to find out their opinion on the current events and to determine what kind of humanitarian assistance the EU can provide them.
Foreign Minister Schallenberg said that Austria has allocated the largest one-off aid package of 18 million euros. It is not specified which country and for what purposes this money will be spent.
Interior Minister Nehammer offered advice on border protection and counter-terrorism.
Earlier, the Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (Sebastian Kurz) said that Austria is not ready to accept new Afghan refugees. “We cannot repeat the mistakes of 2015. The region around Afghanistan must remain stable and provide protection to Afghan refugees, as required by the Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, ”said Kurz, adding that during the refugee crisis, Austria received 44,000 Afghan citizens. Now the Afghan diaspora in Austria is the largest after Iran, Pakistan and Sweden.
On the eve of the problem of refugees, President of the European Council Charles Michel also discussed the problem of refugees with President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov . Berdymukhamedov refused to accept refugees, citing the risks of the spread of COVID-19.
Earlier, the Chronicle of Turkmenistan reported that the Turkmen border guards sent a family of ethnic Turkmen who fled from Afghanistan to Tajikistan.
Source: Chronicles of Turkmenistan