Babiš: “Czech Republic Will Not Negotiate With Taliban”

“The Czech Republic will certainly not negotiate with the Taliban.”

This was stated by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš in an interview with Mladá fronta DNES. According to him, the approach towards a Taliban-led Afghanistan is more a question for the European Council or for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

If the radical Islamist Taliban movement that ruled Afghanistan in mid-August can be trusted, time will tell, according to Babiš.

“The Czech Republic will certainly not negotiate with the Taliban. The mission is over for us, we saved the people we needed to save,” Babiš told MfD.

“The Taliban are still looking and wanting to show the world that there is no problem in Afghanistan when Allied troops have left. And that there is no reason for Afghans to leave the country. Only time will tell whether we can trust them or not,” Babiš added.

One week ago, in response to developments in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhánek (CSSD) said that the Czechia would have to accept the reality in Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul and seek more active cooperation with countries that have contacts with the Taliban.

Since mid-August, when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in a flash, 82,300 people have been evacuated from the country.

Three weeks ago, the Czech Republic transported almost 200 people from Kabul, including 170 Afghans. The third plane landed in Prague last week on Wednesday.

Army planes evacuated Czech embassy employees, Czech soldiers, Afghan embassy and Czech collaborators with their families, as well as Afghans who have a permanent residence in the Czech Republic.