Emmanuel Macron spoke on Monday at 8 p.m. about the situation in Afghanistan.
A Defense Council on the situation in Afghanistan was held this Monday, in the middle of the day, by videoconference after the flight of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and the capture by the Taliban of Kabul, the Afghan capital, and.
“A historic turning point is at work in Afghanistan”, reminded President Emmanuel Macron on Monday evening before expressing “France’s extreme concern” regarding the Afghan crisis.
Thirteen years of French military intervention in Afghanistan
“After a 20-year war, after the decision to withdraw American troops, Kabul fell in a few hours into the hands of the Taliban”, referring to France’s military commitment in this country for 13 years, from 2001 to 2014, with main objective of stopping the terrorist threat which was then targeting our territory. “Afghanistan was then on the way to becoming a sanctuary for Islamist terrorism,” he said.
“In Afghanistan our fight was fair and it is the honor of France to be engaged in it”, he also hammered before paying homage to the units of the French army which passed in these valleys, to the memory and families of those who have passed away. “We will not forget our soldiers, nor our dead, numbering 90”.
An emergency situation that requires people to be made safe
The current turning point in Afghanistan requires immediate decisions and initiatives to respond to the humanitarian catastrophe, the president said. “The urgency is to put our compatriots and our Afghan allies to safety”, specifying that France was in contact with all the parties present to carry out these evacuations and recalling that, until the end, France had wanted to protect its Afghan allies.
Nearly 800 people are already on French soil. “Many Afghans, artists and journalists are now threatened because of their commitment. We will help them, it is the honor of France ”.
In order to carry out these evacuation operations, he announced the dispatch of two military planes and French special forces.
The French present in Afghanistan had been invited in April to leave the country and a special flight had been chartered by the French authorities on July 16.
France will take initiatives at the political level
Finally, beyond the urgency of the situation, Emmanuel Macron said he wanted to take political initiatives, on the grounds that terrorist groups might want to take advantage of the situation to try to make Afghanistan a sanctuary again. “The United Nations Security Council will have to take initiatives” to ensure that terrorism is combated as effectively as possible, he said.
Another issue identified by President Macron, the risk that the destabilization of Afghanistan risks causing significant migratory flows to Europe. “We will play our full part in an international and fair effort, but the European Union cannot assume the consequences of the current situation on its own”.
“We will work with Germany and with other European states to build a response to irregular flows, but we will also seek to establish cooperation between transit and host countries (Pakistan, Turkey, Iran),” he said. it detailed
Finally, Emmanuel Macron placed himself on the level of values in the face of the Taliban’s seizure of power in Afghanistan. The freedoms of conscience and of choice that France defends risk being undermined in Afghanistan. However, the Afghan people have the right to live with respect for everyone. “Afghan women have the right to live in freedom” before concluding: “If the fate of the Afghans remains in their hands, we will make sure to protect them as much as possible”.