EU to invite Taliban officials for migration talks in Brussels

The European Union is preparing to host Taliban officials in Brussels for talks focused on the return of Afghan migrants, as several member states push for stricter deportation policies and renewed cooperation with Afghanistan’s de facto authorities.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, AFP reported that a letter will be sent “imminently” to Kabul to arrange a date for the meeting in the Belgian capital. The planned discussions, being coordinated with Sweden, would follow two previous visits by European officials to Afghanistan on the same issue.

Technical meeting under discussion

A spokesperson for the EU executive said officials are “working on a potential follow-up meeting at technical level in Brussels with the de-facto authorities in Afghanistan”. No date has yet been fixed for the proposed visit.

The discussions come as around 20 EU countries seek ways to return migrants, particularly those with criminal convictions, to Afghanistan as part of a wider crackdown on immigration. In an October letter, several countries urged the EU to identify diplomatic and practical solutions to advance the issue.

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“In this context a technical meeting took place in Kabul in January 2026,” the commission spokesperson said, adding that the EU and Sweden were now jointly working to “pursue these discussions” in Brussels.

Questions over engagement with Taliban

The planned visit raises practical and ethical concerns as it involves engagement with Taliban authorities, who are not formally recognised by the European Union. The Taliban have remained largely isolated internationally since regaining power in 2021 and imposing a strict version of Islamic law.

For Taliban officials to travel to Belgium, which hosts EU institutions, exemptions would need to be granted. Belgian authorities appear, in theory, willing to allow this.

The European push to increase returns also comes as Afghanistan faces a deep humanitarian crisis. Since 2023, more than five million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan, often by force. International organisations say most are living in severe hardship without stable housing or employment.

Germany among countries pushing returns

Between 2013 and 2024, EU countries received about a million asylum applications from Afghans, according to the bloc’s data agency. Roughly half were approved during that period.

Afghans still accounted for the largest share of asylum applicants in the EU in 2025.

However, as attitudes towards migration have hardened across Europe, governments have increasingly discussed returning Afghan migrants to their home country.

Germany has taken a leading role, deporting more than 100 Afghans with criminal convictions since 2024 through charter flights organised with the help of Qatar. Public opinion in Germany has also been shaped by several deadly attacks involving Afghans in recent years, including a car-ramming incident in Munich last year.

Austria has also moved forward on the issue, hosting a Taliban delegation in Vienna in mid-September. Belgium, Sweden and several other EU member states are considering similar steps, supported strongly by anti-migration voices.

The policy push has faced criticism from NGOs and left-wing political groups.

“Deporting Afghans back to a country where almost half of the population cannot feed themselves is not a migration policy; it is a decision that could cost lives,” said Lisa Owen, the International Rescue Committee’s country director for Afghanistan.

Some migrant rights groups have also raised concerns that a Brussels visit could enable Taliban officials to identify people they want returned to Afghanistan, potentially threatening their fundamental rights.

Diplomatic sources contacted by AFP disputed those concerns, saying the primary aim of the talks is to address practical matters, including the issuing of passports for Afghans whose embassies in Europe are not recognised by Taliban authorities. Sources close to the discussions said European officials also examined Kabul airport’s handling capacity and other technical arrangements during their visits to Afghanistan, according to the news agency.