The European Commission on Tuesday said no meeting has been scheduled with Taliban authorities in Brussels, despite reports of planned talks on deportations of Afghan migrants.
“There is no meeting confirmed and no invitation has been sent,” commission spokesperson Markus Lammert told reporters.
However, Lammert confirmed that technical-level contacts with Taliban representatives are ongoing, focusing on the return of Afghan nationals who have no legal right to remain in the European Union.
The contacts follow a joint letter sent by 20 EU interior and migration ministers in October, calling for stronger coordination on returns. Lammert said the effort is aimed in particular at individuals considered security threats.
He stressed that any return decisions are made by individual EU member states and must comply with EU and international law, including fundamental rights protections.
“Every return decision is an individual decision,” he said, noting that cases typically follow a full asylum assessment.
The comments come after a report by AFP said EU officials were preparing to host a Taliban delegation in Brussels in the coming weeks for talks on deportations. The report, citing diplomatic sources, said the visit had not yet been formally confirmed.
According to the report, the delegation would likely include technical officials and focus on logistics such as flight arrangements, airport capacity in Kabul and the treatment of returnees.
The European Commission is coordinating the contacts alongside member states, the report said.
The European Union does not formally recognize the Taliban, which returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
Lammert also pointed to earlier remarks by Ursula von der Leyen, who said returns to countries such as Afghanistan remain politically sensitive and operationally complex, given ongoing humanitarian and human rights challenges.
Humanitarian organizations and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees have raised concerns about deportations to Afghanistan, citing widespread poverty, drought and declining international aid.
Afghan nationals have been among the largest groups seeking asylum in Europe in recent years. About 1 million Afghans applied for asylum in EU countries between 2013 and 2024, according to European data.
