The European Union said that it would not recognize the current Afghan government but pledged to remain engaged in order to avert economic and social collapse in Afghanistan. 

In a statement issued by the European Commission following the 13th ASEM Summit via videoconference, the EU’s president von der Leyen said that the world needed to stand by the people of Afghanistan.  

“Finally, we have decided to strengthen our engagement on issues affecting regional stability. And this brings me to my last point: That is Afghanistan. The European Union does not recognize the new regime… but we need to prevent the imminent economic and social collapse that the country faces,” she said.  

“We need to stand by the people of Afghanistan. This is why, last month, we announced a package worth EUR 1 billion, including EUR 300 million in humanitarian aid. The European Union will keep on engaging with the countries in the region,” Leyen added.  

The summit was hosted by Cambodia, in which the leaders of 20 Asian governments and 30 European states participated.   

The delegation of the Islamic Emirate is meeting with the representatives of the US and European countries on Nov 27th and 29th this month in the Gulf state of Qatar.  

According to the foreign ministry, the reopening of the embassies would be part of the negotiations in the meeting.  

The ASEM summit mainly focused on cooperation, interest and engagement between Europe and Asia.

The European and Asian leaders exchanged views on the Covid-19 outbreak and economic issues.  

“For more than 25 years, the Asia-Europe Meeting has been the most comprehensive partnership forum between Asia and Europe. It has helped us tackle some of the big challenges of the day,” Leyen was quoted by the European Commission in a press release.  “In the years to come, this partnership will be even more important to recover from the pandemic. Together, we need to rebuild a more sustainable and equitable world, and we need to strengthen multilateralism. Because Asia and Europe are closely connected and together, we have significant weight in the world.”