Taliban delegation in Oslo: Controversial visit ends with promise

The Taliban’s first visit to Europe after taking power in Afghanistan has ended. Oslo’s invitation remains highly controversial in the West, and the Taliban rate the talks positively.

The delegation spent three days in a conference hotel just outside of Oslo. The Taliban sat at long tables in conference rooms – opposite them alternately representatives of Afghan civil society and various European countries as well as the USA.

The Taliban came at the invitation of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry – but Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt did not meet them personally and instead sent her State Secretary.

After the delegation’s departure, Huitfeldt emphasized that talks were unavoidable because of the humanitarian situation in the country: “The entire delegation consists of terrorists. They stand for murder and terror. It was important for us to determine which activists they had to meet here. Our international partners also sent negotiators,” said Huitfeldt.

“The problem is that the Taliban have de facto power in Afghanistan. If we want to provide humanitarian aid, we have to talk to them in order to be able to bring food and medicine.”

Taliban view talks positively

The Taliban drew a positive conclusion after the visit – according to the foreign minister of the transitional government, Amir Khan Muttaqi, there was a good exchange, especially with the USA.

There was no press conference during the three days, but some Norwegian media conducted interviews with the Taliban. Questions about human rights violations were dismissed.

Violence against demonstrating women – such videos are staged, says Muttaqi: “The demonstrations with screaming people and cameras have been carefully planned. In Kabul, women verbally attacked soldiers. They insult them in order to provoke them and then film them. If I When I see pictures of these soldiers, I doubt that they belong to us.”

Debate about visit to Norway

The Taliban’s first visit to Europe after taking power in Afghanistan has sparked debate in Norway and protests outside Norwegian embassies in other countries.

Zahir Athari, an Afghan exile in Norway, reported one of the delegation members to the police for war crimes. Norway’s invitation – for him an affront: “These talks could easily have taken place in Afghanistan or neighboring countries. The Taliban shouldn’t have been honored by being able to travel to Norway on a private plane.”

An Afghan women’s rights activist, on the other hand, sees things differently. Jamila Afghani was involved in discussions with the delegation. In the end she drew a positive conclusion: “It was a very good meeting, a first approach. Hopefully more dialogue and negotiations will follow.”

Girls should be allowed to go to school again

The Taliban have assured that, for example, girls of all ages will be able to go to school again from spring – said Jan Egelund, Secretary General of the Norwegian refugee agency. You have to measure them against that now.

“At the same time, we also have to work on improving the situation in Washington, London and Brussels. There are currently sanctions that are making it very difficult to help the population. NATO simply didn’t understand that they were going to crash the country in August left, leaving 40 million Afghans behind, including many women,” said Egelund.

The Taliban delegation left that night. The stay in Oslo was completely financed by the Norwegians.