Berlin says no plans yet to reopen embassy in Afghanistan

BERLIN

Germany said on Friday that there are no plans yet to reopen the embassy in Afghanistan.

Speaking at a regular government news conference, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr said there are "definitely no plans over the next days" to open the diplomatic mission in the capital Kabul.

Adebahr was reacting to statements by the Taliban’s senior leader Anas Haqqani who told the Qatari-based Al Jazeera Media Network that Germany could be the first country to reopen its embassy.

Berlin has shut down its embassy in Kabul since the Taliban takeover on Aug. 15 and relocated Ambassador Markus Potzel to Qatar’s capital Doha.

However, the Merkel government has maintained diplomatic contact with the Taliban.

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Germany could reopen its Kabul mission “if it were politically possible and if the security situation permits.”

Germany has been primarily focused on evacuating more eligible Afghans from the country, where thousands of locals who worked for German ministries and political institutions are hoping for a way out.

Since the Taliban came to power in August, more than 5,400 people, including 4,559 Afghan nationals and 522 Germans, have come to Germany from Afghanistan, according to the German Interior Ministry.

It is the goal of the federal government to help German nationals, local staff, and those seeking protection who have received an acceptance letter, if possible, leave Afghanistan, said Adebahr.

Furthermore, the German government is in close contact with Pakistan and Qatar, which have already organized civil flights from Kabul airport, she added.