EU Seeks Taliban Cooperation on Afghan Deportations, Reversing Years of Non-Engagement

Belgium granted five visas to a Taliban delegation for EU migration talks in Brussels on 22 June 2026—the bloc's first hosted Taliban engagement. The EU needs Taliban cooperation to deport rejected Afghan asylum seekers: Afghanistan issues no travel documents for deportees, and commercial flights depend on Kabul's approval. Without this Taliban leverage, returns are operationally impossible. The talks signal Brussels has concluded direct engagement preferable to continued impasse.