The Diplomat
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares yesterday expressed his “admiration and respect” for Afghan women and warned that the relations of Spain and the rest of the EU with the Taliban will depend on ensuring a “dignified space” for women.
“The hearts of all of us are with the Afghan women and girls and all Afghans who rejected Taliban barbarism,” as well as with” the brave and very dignified defenders of Kiev and Ukraine,” the minister said during the opening ceremony of the Afghan Women HearUs Summit, held at the Ministry’s headquarters. The meeting was closed by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs, Ángeles Moreno; and by the Secretary of State for Migration, Jesús Javier Perea, and its participants included the Secretary General of the Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Ángel Moratinos; the Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Pilar Cancela; and representatives of the European External Action Service, the UN and NATO, as well as some of the Afghan women who left the country after the arrival of the Taliban.
Heart Us is a collaborative networking platform to respond to the needs of women who have arrived in Europe and those who have remained in their country. The aim of the Summit is for Afghan women, representatives of European institutions and the United Nations, Spanish politicians and politicians, Spanish businesswomen and businessmen and civil society organizations to reach a consensus on a series of measures to facilitate their professional integration in the host countries, to ensure that their opinion is taken into account in humanitarian response programs and to ensure their active participation in the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
“Without the participation of women in decision-making and public policy-making, there will be no peace and development” in Afghanistan, she continued. Therefore, she warned, “Spain and the EU have made this a condition for the relationship with the Afghan authorities”, because “without policies that allow a dignified space, as women and girls have been occupying until now, there will be no possibility of a relationship with Spain or any EU country”. In any case, he specified, the possibility of Spain recognizing the Taliban regime that took power last August “is not even remotely considered”. “It is an inalienable element, we will never abandon it,” he added.
According to Albares, “Spain will not waver in its solidarity with the people and government of Ukraine and in the defense of international law and international legality as we did in August and continue to do with Afghanistan, with the women and girls of Afghanistan.” “The wave of solidarity that awakened the fall of Kabul in the hands of the Taliban today is again present this time in the heart of Europe,” the minister continued. “Spain represented at that time the soul of Europe and that is precisely what we are defending today by helping the people of Ukraine, to defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added.
He also recalled that, in line with his “admiration and respect” for Afghan women, especially for those who “continue to work in Afghanistan in very difficult conditions”, Spain has contributed 20 million euros to the UN humanitarian response commitments in Central Asia and has donated 2.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for Afghan refugees in Iran, in addition to offering “new commitments” at the donor summit to be held this March.
