Russia is establishing a political, economic and trade partnership with the Taliban, says the head of the Russian Security Council, Sergei Shoigu.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan when the United States and NATO withdrew after 20 years of war in August 2021. Most people presumably remember that the United States under President Biden withdrew in a catastrophic manner. Several American soldiers lost their lives, and an entire military base was handed over to the Islamists without a fight, including American military equipment worth around 80 billion dollars.
Since taking power, the Taliban have introduced a strict Islamist rule in the country. Nevertheless, former Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt (Labour Party) invited the Taliban leadership on a private jet financed by us in order to discuss the rights of Afghan women, without much success.
Hørte ikke på Anniken Huitfeldt: Taliban påbyr kvinner å bruke burka
Russia is now entering what Shoigu describes as “a fully fledged partnership”, but it is not known what this will specifically entail.
The statement comes at the same time as it became known on Thursday that the European Commission has invited representatives of the Taliban to Brussels.
Several EU countries wish to return Afghan refugees to Afghanistan, and envoys from Brussels have already held several meetings with the Taliban in Kabul.
The question of deporting Afghans is highly controversial as a consequence of the human rights situation in the country, particularly for women and girls. (NTB-Reuters-AFP)
Norway instead chooses to import Afghans into our country, where they are at the bottom of the statistics for the number who are self-supporting, but top the statistics for the number charged with criminal offences.
In the years 2024 and 2025, the Labour Party government provided almost NOK 1.1 billion altogether in aid to the Taliban-ruled and women-oppressing country of Afghanistan.
In that context, the millions Huitfeldt squandered on inviting the Taliban to Norway become merely a drop in the ocean.