Acting on the fear of mass influx of Afghan refugees in light of the US and NATO withdrawal from the country, European Union members are doing its best to seal off their territory and to redirect this flow into countries in Afghanistan’s neighborhood.
In an interview for Rossiya-24 news channel on Wednesday, Russia’s Permanent Representative at the EU Vladimir Chizhov said Russia disagrees with this and sees it as a problem because those countries, including the countries of Central Asia, are its allies and partners.
Chizov pointed that Moscow is aware of the EU efforts to somehow prevent a humanitarian catastrophe inside Afghanistan, but noted it is not acceptable for it to protect its own territory by diverting the uncontrolled refugees flow to the countries of the region.
He also underlined the relevance of the Russia-EU dialogue aimed at stopping the spread of drugs, the risk of which increased dramatically amid the recent events in Afghanistan, hoping that EU members will have an additional reason to boost cooperation and dialogue with Russia amid these developments.
The EU justice and home affairs ministers stressed during the emergency meeting of the EU Council in Brussels on August 31 they must act jointly to prevent the recurrence2015-2016 uncontrolled illegal migration that has seen more than a million illegal migrants flocked to the EU.
In that context, Brussels pledged support to Afghanistan’s neighbors that will host the refugees and Afghan asylum seekers while their applications are being handled on a case-by-case basis, pointing that EU remains determined to effectively protect its external borders.
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