Despite the hardline Taliban's return to power last year, Germany and other Western countries should reopen their embassies in Kabul, the UN's Deputy Special Representative (Political) for Afghanistan has said.
"My appeal would be for more Western states to be represented here again," Markus Potzel, who served as Berlin's ambassador to Afghanistan from 2014 to 2016, told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) media outlet in comments to be published on Sunday.
It was easier to assess the situation in Afghanistan when being present in the country, Potzel said, adding that it shouldn't be forgotten that Germany and other Western nations also had interests in Afghanistan.
The Taliban returned to power during the chaotic withdrawal of US-led NATO forces in August 2021. During that period, Western countries closed their embassies in Kabul and evacuated their staff.
The militants have repeatedly denied they would reimpose the oppressive regime of their first rule from 1996 to 2001. However, over the past months, they have started the gradual resumption of their strict interpretation of Islam.
The group has curtailed human rights and imposed restrictions on women such as blocking teenage girls from getting an education and, most recently, banning women from attending university.
No country has recognized the Taliban's de facto government so far.
But Potzel said: "Opening embassies does not have to go hand in hand with recognition of the Taliban regime." Western states, he argued, are interested in a stable Afghanistan able to prevent the Islamic State militia from spreading further and cracking down on drugs cultivation.
