Foreign minister opposes Taliban invitation but says Belgium cannot block visit
Foreign minister Maxime Prévot of Les Engagés has said he personally opposes the European Commission's decision to invite a Taliban delegation to Brussels, but said Belgium could not block the visit.
Speaking in the Chamber's Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, Prévot was questioned about visas issued to Taliban representatives. The delegation is due to travel to Brussels at the request of the European Commission for talks on the return of Afghan refugees to Afghanistan.
Prévot said Belgium had received visa applications from all five members of the delegation and confirmed that security services had carried out the necessary checks after receiving their names from the Commission.
The planned visit is controversial because the Taliban is not internationally recognised as Afghanistan's legitimate government.
"Personally, I disapprove of the move to invite representatives of the Taliban regime to Brussels. I will not accept that the Belgian government invites representatives of the Taliban regime onto our territory," Prévot told MPs, adding that formal recognition of the Taliban remains "out of the question".
However, he pointed to Belgium's obligations under its headquarters policy, which governs the presence of international institutions based in Brussels. "If Belgium were to express an opinion on the desirability of the invitations from the European institutions, we would run the risk of weakening Brussels' position as an international and diplomatic capital," he said.
Several human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, protested against the planned visit on Wednesday. NGOs and Afghan diaspora groups warned that engaging with the Taliban risks legitimising a regime accused of serious human rights violations since its return to power in 2021.
During the protest, Alexis Deswaef, president of the International Federation for Human Rights, called for the delegation to be arrested if it enters Belgium.
Taliban security stands guard as women wait to receive food supplies donated during the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kabul, March 2025 © WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP
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