The German Foreign Ministry on social network X strongly condemned the speech of Taliban representative Abdul Bari Omar in Cologne and stated that it did not issue him a visa.
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“We strongly condemn the speech of Taliban Abdul Bari Omar in Cologne. According to the information we have, none of our visa offices issued him a visa,” a message published on the account of the German Foreign Ministry said.
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Further measures will be taken in close cooperation with internal services and partners, the publication noted.
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The Foreign Ministry was not notified about this trip; Germany does not recognize the Taliban, the message emphasizes.
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The head of the Food and Drug Administration in the interim Taliban government, Abdul Bari Omar, spoke to Afghans at a Cologne mosque, in his speech he called on those gathered to visit Afghanistan. He emphasized that Afghanistan managed to successfully implement projects without financial assistance from abroad and called for a critical view of the materials about Afghanistan disseminated by the media.
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In early August 2021, the Taliban stepped up their offensive against Afghan government forces, entered Kabul on August 15 and declared the war over the next day. During the last two weeks of August, a mass evacuation of citizens of Western countries and Afghans collaborating with them took place from Kabul airport, which was under the protection of the American military. On the night of August 31, the US military left Kabul airport, ending almost 20 years of US military presence in Afghanistan. In early September of the same year, the composition of the interim government of Afghanistan was announced, headed by Mohammad Hasan Akhund, who served as the head of the Foreign Ministry during the first reign of the Taliban and has been under UN sanctions since 2001.
