(Bloomberg) -- The Taliban are celebrating in Kabul with the departure of the last American troops from the Afghanistan capital, cementing their return to power 20 years after the U.S. invasion ousted it.

The militant group called for good ties with the U.S. while warning against any outside attempts to interfere with its control of Afghanistan. There remain concerns about how much the Taliban will hold to promises to allow safe passage for Afghans to keep leaving the country, and to protect the rights of women.

European Union home affairs ministers meeting Tuesday to discuss the crisis will focus on how to stop refugees from reaching the bloc’s member states by supporting Afghanistan’s neighbors to keep them there, according to a draft document seen by Bloomberg.

Read more: Biden’s Withdrawal Leaves Afghanistan in Crisis and Uncertainty

Key stories and developments:

  • Taliban Call for Good Ties With U.S. After 20-Year War Ends
  • Pakistan Boosting Food Imports as Afghan Demand Pressures Prices
  • The West’s Hard Lessons From 20 Years of War: Balance of Power
  • Combating Terrorism Post-U.S. Withdrawal From Afghanistan (Video)

All items are in Eastern Time:

EU’s Borrell Warns on Refugee Risks (6:14 a.m.)

The situation in Afghanistan could spawn a humanitarian crisis of “biblical proportions,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told Spain’s Onda Cero radio.

He said Europe would need to reflect on what amounted to a defeat for the West. The experience would bring lessons “in particular for Europe the way in which we relate to that part of the world that refuses to accept our values, how we relate with our allies, including the U.S., and also we have to think about how we relate to the Taliban,” he said. -- Charles Penty

Pakistan Calls Taliban Rhetoric ‘Encouraging’ (6:01 a.m.)

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, suggested that engagement with the Taliban “would be in the larger interest of the region and international community.” 

“Can you trust the Taliban? Let’s see,” Qureshi said in Islamabad alongside German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. In contrast with the 1990s, the Taliban realize they need humanitarian, economic and financial help, he said. 

Maas said German nationals as well as Afghans with residency permits for Germany remain in the country, and that he hopes Taliban pledges to allow them safe passage will be kept. -- Patrick Donahue

EU Will Pledge to Work With Transit Nations (5:40 a.m.)

When EU ministers gather in Brussels they’ll discuss how to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan, ways to secure the bloc’s border and pledge support for transit countries that host migrants.

The EU will work with nations that border Afghanistan “to prevent illegal migration from the region, reinforce border management capacity and prevent smuggling of migrants and trafficking in human beings,” according to a draft statement from the meeting seen by Bloomberg.

The statement, which is still subject to change, doesn’t propose how many refugees the EU should accept, but pledges to “act jointly to prevent the recurrence of uncontrolled large-scale illegal migration movements faced in the past.” -- Jasmina Kuzmanovic

Turkey May Operate Kabul Airport if Asked (5:25 a.m. ET)

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Turkey is ready to evaluate operating Kabul airport if asked. “We’re following the developments and evaluating the situation. If the conditions are suitable and if there is such a request, we’re ready to evaluate that.” 

Qatar meanwhile is urging the Taliban to allow outside assistance to run the airport but the group is mainly focusing on the technical side, Qatar’s foreign minister told the Financial Times.

“What is a clear (Taliban) objection is that they don’t want to see a foreign security presence in their airport or their territory,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said. “What we are trying to explain to them is that airport safety and security requires a lot more than securing the perimeters of the airport.” -- Selcan Hacaoglu, Sylvia Westall

U.S. Will Keep Holding Taliban to Account (5:15 a.m)

President Joe Biden, who said he will address the nation on the withdrawal on Tuesday afternoon Washington time, said the Taliban have “made commitments on safe passage and the world will hold them to their commitments.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. is moving its Afghanistan consular work to Doha, Qatar, which had been the site of talks with the Taliban over the last two years. He said U.S. humanitarian assistance to Afghans would continue but any engagement with the Taliban would be motivated solely by U.S. national interests. -- Rosalind Mathieson

Luxembourg Slams Austria, Slovenia Refugee Stance (5:10 a.m.)

Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn hit out at Austria and Slovenia, accusing them of rejecting European values and siding with anti-migrant figures like Italy’s Matteo Salvini and France’s Marine Le Pen.

“They all reject direct human solidarity with the tortured people in Afghanistan at this extremely dramatic moment,” Asselborn told Germany’s Die Welt newspaper.

He said he doesn’t expect “miracles” from Tuesday’s EU meeting and would be “happy to be able to know after the talks that the flame of humanity in the EU has not completely died out” and “happy if we could initially agree to take in 40,000 to 50,000 people.” -- Iain Rogers

 

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