Heiko Maas is aiming for the civilian operation of the Kabul airport

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Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas

Photo: Annegret Hilse / AP

In the opinion of Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, the Western industrialized countries should discuss the question of how long people can still be evacuated from Kabul when the G7 heads of state and government are switched on.

In addition, one has to talk about humanitarian aid for refugees and also the question of how one should deal with "migration flows", says the SPD politician.

Maas presented a five-point plan for dealing with the Afghanistan crisis. Firstly, according to Maas, the federal government is currently in talks with the USA and Turkey about whether the airport in Kabul can also continue to be operated civilly. You are also in contact with the Taliban. The US has not yet made a decision to operate the airport beyond August 31, Maas said.

Second, talk to Afghanistan's neighbors so that they can take in refugees who leave the country by land.

100 million euros have been made available for this.

In addition, German embassies in neighboring countries should quickly and easily issue visas for entry into Germany.

Fourth, the staff in the diplomatic missions will be increased there in order to enable a smooth process.

Fifth, the program for Afghans at particular risk will be increased by a further ten million euros.

"The situation around the airport has become more chaotic in the past few hours," said Maas.

“The situation is still dangerous.

For this reason, we do not recommend going to the airport on your own, ”he said.

The US intends to completely withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by August 31.

President Joe Biden recently confirmed that he will stick to the end date.

The Taliban threatened "consequences" if the western states stayed in the country longer than announced.

A government spokesman in Berlin, on the other hand, said Germany wanted to evacuate as long as the situation in Kabul allowed.

A week ago, the militant Islamist Taliban captured Kabul and took power.

Since then, members of the opposition, journalists, human rights activists and local staff who worked for Western countries have feared acts of revenge.

More than 26,000 people evacuated

At a virtual meeting last week, the foreign ministers of the seven leading industrialized countries demanded security guarantees from the Taliban for Afghans and foreigners wishing to leave the country.

The western countries have already flown more than 26,000 people out of the Taliban-captured Kabul in the past week.

mfh / Reuters