(Washington Insider Magazine) – The Balkan countries of Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia have become the first European countries that have agreed to temporarily shelter Afghans who are eventually bound to the United States following last week’s takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban on the heels of a U.S. withdrawal from the country.
Previous reports stated that Montenegro would host Afghan asylum seekers but officials in Podgorica denied them.
In a July 15 press briefing, White House Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the majority of those seeking asylum are interpreters or others that have sparked the ire of the Taliban, an extremist Islamic group that regained power after 20 years.
U.S. President Joe Biden followed through on the policy of his predecessor, Donald Trump, to withdraw military personnel from Afghanistan after a protracted 20-year war and with more than $2 trillion spent on assisting the country, including building and equipping an army numbering more than 300,000.
“There are approximately 20,000 Afghans who have applied,” Psaki said, referring to a special visa program for Afghans who served with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan.
An estimated 1,200 Afghans are already enroute to the U.S., with that number expected to grow up to 3,500 in the coming weeks, German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle reports.
On Aug. 15, Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama, stated on Facebook that the U.S. requested fellow NATO member Albania be used as a “transit place” for “Afghan political emigrants who have the United States as their final destination.”
Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani echoed this sentiment. She stated that she received a request from President Joe Biden last month to temporarily shelter Afghan asylum seekers, Politico reports. “Without any hesitation or a single condition, I have given my consent to such a humanitarian operation,” she said via Facebook.
North Macedonia has reportedly said that hotels and resorts will be made available, while student dormitories are being vacated house Afghans in Albania. The first wave of asylum seekers was set to arrive in Albania on Aug 19, Politico reported. Kosovo has stated that it can host up to 10,000 people.
A potential reason for the three countries readily agreeing to such measures may be seen in their relationship with the U.S., and the problems that have arisen in European Union (EU) accession talks.
Toby Vogel, an analyst at Berlin-based think-tank Democratization Policy Council commented on the reasoning in an interview with Politico.
“These three are the most pro-American countries in Europe, possibly in the world, both in terms of popular sentiment and the alignment of the political class regardless of the administration that’s in power in the U.S.,” he said.
He added, “There’s an element of balancing the U.S. against the EU that is happening as well. The leadership of these countries wants to go straight to the source of Western power and stability — and that’s the U.S.”
Montenegro, in contrast, has stated that it does not intend to accept asylum seekers into its borders. In a news release, Montenegro was confirmed to have supported a statement in which 60 countries called on authorities “to respect and facilitate the safe and orderly departure of foreign nationals and Afghans who wish to leave the country.”
However, Podgorica stated that the country “at this stage, will not receive refugees as is being arbitrarily stated in some media, so we emphasize that this topic should be reported with special sensitivity for the sake of precision in informing the public,” Balkan Insight reports.
