EU ready to continue Afghanistan aid but watching new government

[September 08, 2021]  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is ready to continue with emergency aid to Afghanistan but will keep a close eye on the new Taliban government, a senior member of the bloc's executive said on Wednesday.

European Commissioner for Inter-institutional Relations and Foresight Maros Sefcovic speaks during a news conference on Brexit at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, June 30, 2021. Francisco Seco/Pool via REUTERS

"The European Union is ready to continue to offer humanitarian assistance," European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic said, adding however that longer-term donor money depended on the Taliban upholding basic freedoms.

"We are looking very, very carefully at how the new government is behaving before engaging," he told a news conference following a meeting of EU commissioners.

Afghanistan faces the collapse of basic services and food and other aid is about to run out, the United Nations said on Tuesday, after the Taliban took control of the country on Aug. 15 and the United States and Western powers withdrew.

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski and Robin Emmott; Editing by John Chalmers)

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