BRUSSELS, 02 September 2021, (TON): The EU countries did not have the courage to offer asylum to Afghan refugees, said European Parliament President David Sassoli.

We were very disappointed with yesterday’s Home Affairs Council conclusions.

Sassoli said “we have seen countries outside the European Union come forward to welcome Afghan asylum seekers, but we have not seen a single member state do the same. Everyone rightly thought of those who worked with us and their families, but none had the courage to offer refuge to those whose lives are still in danger today.”

“We cannot pretend that the Afghan question does not concern us, because we participated in that mission and shared its objectives and aims.”

Further he said that “a strong and common European voice on the international stage is more necessary now than ever. Europe must take its place, make its voice heard, define its strategic interests also in the framework of the Transatlantic Alliance, in order to be able to carry out stabilization, peace building, and development action together with our partners in a multilateral framework.”

This goes hand in hand with the need to move forward together towards a true common security and defence policy, without which we will remain dependent on the goodwill of other great powers and expose ourselves to the threats of authoritarian regimes.

For this we must also take an ambitious step forward and consider qualified majority voting in the Council whenever possible, to ensure the speed and effectiveness of our common external action.