Belgium issues visas to IEA delegation for EU meeting
Belgium said on Monday it had issued five visas to an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) delegation to attend an EU meeting on migration in Brussels, in what would be the first time the EU has hosted the IEA since it returned to power in Afghanistan five years ago.
The visas are restricted in both geographical scope and duration, allowing travel only to Belgium and for a single day, a Belgian foreign ministry spokesperson said, adding that the date of the visit would not be disclosed for security reasons.
Two European officials said the delegation had been granted one-day visas valid only on Tuesday, June 23, Reuters reported.
The Commission last month invited IEA officials to Brussels to discuss deportations of Afghan migrants.
The Commission said the meeting is technical and does not constitute recognition of IEA rule.
“Member States are looking into ways to return persons who have committed serious crimes and who are possibly a security threat. So this is the initiative that the Commission is now following up on,” Commission spokesman Markus Lammert told the EU’s daily press briefing on Monday.
According to a letter seen by Reuters and addressed to Abdul Qaher Balkhi, an Afghan foreign ministry spokesman, it will focus on “the return and readmission of Afghan nationals without a right to stay in the European Union”.
