During the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg, a debate was held on the difficult situation in Afghanistan, with a particular focus on support for women and communities affected by the recent earthquake. Speaking on behalf of the ECR Group, PiS MEP Arkadiusz Mularczyk took the floor during the discussion.
The Polish politician highlighted the dire situation of Afghan women, noting that the recent earthquakes in Afghanistan have only exacerbated long-standing problems. “Today, thousands of families, women, and children have been left homeless. However, their problems are systemic and not new,” said Arkadiusz Mularczyk. He noted that the ban on women’s participation in humanitarian efforts is merely the tip of the iceberg. “The consequences faced by Afghan women—which are unimaginable to us Europeans—are also a result of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan during Joe Biden’s presidency,” commented the MEP. The MEP referred to the situation in 2021, when, after the Taliban seized power, military equipment worth over $7 billion—left behind by the U.S. military—fell into the regime’s hands. “President Trump certainly would not have allowed the Taliban to seize $7 billion worth of military equipment, nor would he have let the achievements of the entire international community over the past two decades go to waste,” he noted.
He recalled that at that time, the Taliban had gone into hiding in caves in the mountains, while the residents of Kabul—including women—were able to access education and other benefits of civilization. He pointed out that for a year and a half prior to the evacuation, the U.S. military had suffered no casualties. He also added that an entire generation of Afghans was growing up at that time, a generation that was abandoned and left at the mercy of radical Islamists. “Geopolitics abhors a vacuum; hasty decisions always have catastrophic consequences,” Mularczyk concluded.
