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Defense Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer: "One of the lessons I draw"
Photo: Philipp Schulze / dpa
According to Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU), Afghanistan should not be left alone even after the withdrawal of international troops.
“Even if we leave the country militarily, we have to stay on the side of Afghanistan, for example by continuing to provide civil support or by talking within NATO about how we can continue to support the Afghan army, for example. «That said Kramp-Karrenbauer of the ARD.
The last German soldiers from Afghanistan returned to the Federal Republic on Wednesday.
Kramp-Karrenbauer said that the mission in the Hindu Kush teaches that one has to think very carefully about what realistic political goals are in view of other international missions. "For me, that is one of the lessons that I draw and that we must also observe, especially with a view to Mali," said the minister, referring to the deployment of the Bundeswehr in West Africa. Last Friday, twelve German soldiers and one Belgian blue helmet soldier were injured there in a suicide attack.
It was a mistake to give the impression that Afghanistan could be quickly turned into a state based on the European model.
“That is why today what we have really achieved, the improvements that have been made for an entire generation, tend to be neglected.
I think we shouldn't repeat this mistake with a view to other international missions, for example in the Sahel zone, for example in Mali. "
The defense minister said the Bundeswehr's training mission depends on whether the political situation in Mali becomes more stable.
"I cannot imagine that in the end we will train soldiers who are then always turned into tools to fight civil structures in the context of state overturns."
Around 900 German soldiers are currently involved in the UN Minusma mission.
The mission is intended to support the peace process in Mali.
asa / dpa
