The Taliban-run Ministry of Economy announced Thursday that Veronika Boskovic Pohar, acting head of the European Union’s delegation in Afghanistan, pledged $100 million in support for humanitarian and agricultural projects during a recent meeting with the Taliban’s minister of economy.
According to the statement, Ms. Pohar also indicated that the European Union plans to organize a conference aimed at promoting small-scale economic activities and entrepreneurship in the country.
While the European Union’s office in Afghanistan has yet to comment on the meeting, the EU has been one of the largest aid contributors to Afghanistan over the past three years.
This meeting between a senior Taliban official and the EU representative comes amid the enforcement of a new Taliban decree prohibiting non-mahram men and women from meeting in private or holding joint gatherings.
Although Taliban officials have reportedly violated this rule on multiple occasions, the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has made adherence to the decree mandatory for citizens in many provinces.
