EU: Provisional Taliban government does not fulfill promises

The European Union on Wednesday said the Taliban’s provisional government for Afghanistan failed to fulfill the militant group’s promise of including women and other religious groups.

Reuters reported EU foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano said in a statement that the Taliban has not appeared to abide by its promises of diversity and inclusivity.

“It does not look like the inclusive and representative formation in terms of the rich ethnic and religious diversity of Afghanistan we hoped to see and that the Taliban were promising over the past weeks,” Stano said in a statement. “Such inclusivity and representation is expected in the composition of a future transitional government, and as result of negotiations.”

After assuming power, the Taliban invited women to join its provisional government, saying women would have rights that fell within its interpretation of Islamic law. However, international observers have been reluctant to take the Taliban’s word when it comes to ensuring women’s rights, recalling the extreme oppression that women and girls lived under when the group held power in the 1990s.

According to Reuters, European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic said the EU was prepared to continue humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan, but these donations were contingent on the Taliban allow basic freedoms in the country.

“We are looking very, very carefully at how the new government is behaving before engaging,” said Sefcovic.

World powers have yet to indicate that they will recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, though some countries such as Russia and China have moved to engage with the Taliban since it took control.

On Tuesday, the State Department expressed concerns about the Taliban’s all-male provisional government, which includes some individuals who are sanctioned by the U.N. and wanted by the U.S.