The minister of foreign affairs visited the Mazar-i-Sharif military base, where he met two members of the Luxembourgish army — a soldier and a non-commissioned officer — who are currently stationed in Afghanistan as part of a NATO mission.
The Luxembourgish army is going to keep supporting the local NATO missions until 2024. Up until now, 325 members of the army have been deployed to Afghanistan, specifically to Kabul and Kandahar.
During political discussions in Kabul with the Afghani minister of foreign affairs and President Ashraf Ghani, the main topic were under discussion was the peace process, in the hope of finding a resolution to the conflict which has been ongoing for nearly two decades.
Luxembourg also wishes to develop economic links with Afghanistan and to come to a bilateral agreement on air transport services.
The reintegration of six million Afghan refugees that the conflict has pushed to flee their country will be an enormous challenge.
The war in Afghanistan has been ongoing for 18 years. It is the longest conflict in the history of the United States. Washington is looking to find a solution by negotiating with the Taliban who are rapidly gaining terrain and who control nearly 70% of the country.
