BRUSSELS: The European Union still has a skeleton staff in Kabul working to evacuate people as the end of airlifts from the chaotic airport looms.
A number of European nations have said that they are ending their evacuation efforts ahead of the August 31 deadline for the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
European Commission foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano said Thursday that a small EU team “will be on the ground as long as necessary in order to complete the evacuation operations.”
He declined to give more details, saying he didn't want to share more details “because they are operating in an environment which is not exactly friendly.”
Stano says that more than 400 Afghans who worked for the EU in Afghanistan, along with their families, have already been evacuated.
He adds that “there are still some people who we need and want to get out” but would not give more detail, citing “operational reasons.”
Commission spokesman Eric Mamer says that the 400 Afghan EU workers and their families “are in the process of being transferred to member states who offered places.” He called discussions about their relocation “a very intense process” but adds that members of the 27-nation bloc “are very clear that they are they are willing to help” accommodate the EU's Afghan staff.
Read More