Belgium has issued one-day visas to a five-member Taliban delegation invited to Brussels by the European Commission for talks on the return of rejected Afghan asylum seekers to Afghanistan. The visit, expected imminently, would mark the first time Taliban representatives have attended an EU-hosted event since the group retook power in Kabul in 2021. Belgian authorities confirmed the visas were approved after security assessments by the country's State Security service and military intelligence agency found no indication that the individuals posed a threat. The visas are restricted to Belgian territory and do not grant access to the wider Schengen Area.

The European Commission framed the meeting as a technical follow-up to earlier discussions held in Kabul in January, insisting it does not constitute formal diplomatic recognition of the Taliban government. EU officials say the talks will focus narrowly on practical arrangements for returning Afghan nationals whose asylum applications have been rejected, particularly those considered a serious threat, and were convened at the request of a group of EU member states eager to establish return agreements with Afghanistan, where no such arrangement currently exists.

The talks have drawn sharp criticism from human rights organisations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, which argue that engaging the Taliban on deportations — rather than on accountability — legitimises a regime that has imposed sweeping restrictions on women and girls, barring them from education, employment and freedom of movement. Within the European Parliament, critics such as Dutch MEP Raquel Garcia Hermida-van der Walle of the liberal D66 party argued that sitting down with Taliban representatives in Brussels sends the wrong signal entirely.