A Taliban delegation held talks with the EU in Brussels on Tuesday on stepping up the return of failed asylum-seekers to Afghanistan, in an unprecedented visit fiercely criticized by rights activists.
The European Commission invited a five-person delegation for discussions under a push to crack down on irregular migration and boost deportations -- although the EU does not formally recognize the Taliban administration.
"The meetings were constructive, and there is hope that they will lead to positive developments," an Afghan official with direct knowledge of the talks, who requested anonymity due to their sensitivity, told AFP.
A spokesman for the European Commission said 15 EU member states participated in the "technical level meeting" co-chaired by Sweden.
The Afghan official said discussions -- the first by Taliban officials with EU representatives in Brussels -- focused on resuming consular services for Afghans in Europe, on "confidence-building measures" and "a dignified return process".
The commission said "the identification of returnees" and "the issuance of travel documents" for them to be returned to Afghanistan, were on the agenda.
"The focus was on persons who have committed serious crimes and who pose a security threat," the commission spokesman said.
The European Union's outreach to Taliban authorities has drawn strong pushback from rights campaigners who say it flies in the face of the bloc's values.
"The Taliban have erased women and girls from public life," said Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai -- who was shot by Pakistani Taliban militants aged 15 and said she was "shaken and deeply disturbed" by the EU's invitation.
The Taliban delegation in Brussels was led by foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi, and included representatives of the Afghan interior ministry.
Brussels said the meeting was arranged upon the request of 20 EU countries and aimed at providing them the opportunity to "establish contacts" with Taliban authorities.
It followed a January visit by EU officials to Afghanistan to explore the feasibility of organizing migrant returns.
EU countries are responsible for arranging repatriations, although the commission can play a coordinating role.
As host country to the European institutions, Belgium confirmed Monday it had issued the Taliban delegation five one-day visas "after a security assessment" -- valid just for Belgium and not the broader free-movement Schengen area.
EU nations and the commission deny that hosting Taliban officials is tantamount to recognizing the government in Kabul, but critics say it reneges on the bloc's values.
"EU countries are undermining their credibility by condemning Taliban abuses and pursuing accountability on one hand, while cooperating with the Taliban to forcibly return Afghans on the other," said Fereshta Abbasi of Human Rights Watch.
European governments shut their embassies in Kabul when the Taliban authorities returned to power in 2021.
This month, the European Union's migration chief Magnus Brunner defended the outreach, saying Brussels had no other option than to talk to the Taliban government about returning irregular migrants from Afghanistan.
European governments have sought a tougher stance on migration as public opinion has hardened, fueling far-right electoral gains across the continent.
EU countries received about a million asylum applications filed by Afghans between 2013 and 2024, according to the bloc's data agency. About half as many were approved over the period.
Around 20 of the EU's 27 member states have expressed interest in returning some migrants without a right to stay to Afghanistan.
Some countries have pushed ahead, with Germany deporting more than 100 Afghans with criminal convictions since 2024, via charter flights, and Austria following suit.
Rights groups have questioned the legality and ethics of returning migrants to a country that is in the midst of a severe humanitarian crisis, with millions facing hunger and economic hardship, according to the United Nations.
"The desperate scenes of people -- including EU staff -- fleeing Afghanistan are a recent memory," said Eve Geddie, director of Amnesty International's European Institutions Office.
"It is unconscionable that the EU would now try and deport people to Afghanistan, which has only become more dangerous in the meantime."
