|Published on: 14th May 2026|Categories: News|
- The European Commission has confirmed that it is preparing to meet Taliban officials to discuss possible deportation of people from Europe to Afghanistan.
- The EU has restored the full application of the EU-Syria Cooperation Agreement.
- The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed concern about the future of displaced Ukrainians in Europe after temporary protection measures end in 2027.
The European Commission (EC) has confirmed that it is preparing to meet Taliban officials to discuss possible deportations of people from Europe to Afghanistan. On 11 May, a spokesperson told journalists that, following a visit to Kabul by EU and Belgian officials in January, the EC was working with Swedish officials to arrange a “potential technical follow-up meeting” in Brussels. The following day, a spokesperson confirmed that an invitation letter had been sent to Taliban officials but “declined to say who was invited or whether the EU would fund the Afghan delegation’s flights or accommodation”. The EC has previously suggested that a meeting could take place “before the summer”. Commenting on the news, Reshad Jalali from ECRE said: “It is deeply alarming that discussions are taking place about deporting Afghans back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan while the ICC has issued arrest warrants against Taliban leaders and while millions of Afghans, especially women and girls, are living under institutionalised persecution”. Elsewhere, EUobserver journalist Nikolaj Nielsen published an opinion piece in which he described the planned meeting as “a new low” for the EC. Reacting to the EC’s assertion that the meeting would not constitute recognition of the Taliban regime, he also wrote: “While it may be stopping short of formal recognition, it still amounts to a form of legitimisation through cooperation”.
The EU has restored the full application of the EU-Syria Cooperation Agreement. On 11 May, the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) decided to terminate the partial suspension of the agreement that had been in place since 2011. According to a Council of the EU press release, “Following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024 and subsequent Council decisions to lift EU economic sanctions on Syria in May 2025 (except those based on security grounds), the conditions that justified the suspension are no longer present (…) The decision sends a clear political signal of the EU’s commitment to re-engage with Syria and support its economic recovery”. The restoration of the agreement has been described as “part of wider efforts to speed up the return of Syrian refugees living in Europe”. However, speaking to journalists at a press conference following the Syria Partnership Coordination Forum that took place on the same day as the FAC meeting, Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica insisted that the EU was “not pushing anyone” and that returns to Syria should only take place “if it’s safe, if it’s voluntary, if it’s dignified”, while Syrian Minister for Foreign Affairs Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani said: “If Syrians living abroad consider that the conditions are in place for them to return, then they will be able to return”.
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed concern about the future of displaced Ukrainians in Europe after temporary protection measures end in 2027. In a statement issued on 12 May, Michael O’Flaherty noted “growing fatigue and intensifying discussions at EU and national levels about ending emergency arrangements” as well as “rising anti-Ukrainian sentiment, sometimes fuelled by populist politics”. He insisted that any consideration of the future of temporary protection had to be “anchored in the principle that international protection is withdrawn only when return is safe and durable” and that “avoiding a protection gap after March 2027 must be the priority”. He also urged European countries to “give Ukrainians the opportunity to rebuild their lives, regardless of whether their futures lie there or back in Ukraine”.
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