A Taliban delegation is expected to fly into Brussels on Tuesday after being granted a one-day visa to hold talks with the EU on returning failed asylum-seekers to Afghanistan.
The European Commission has invited the officials for discussions under a push to crack down on irregular migration and boost deportations, despite it not formally recognising the Taliban administration.
The EU outreach to the Taliban authorities has drawn fierce pushback, with rights groups urging the commission to back out of the planned meeting.
A spokesperson for the foreign minister of Belgium, which issued the documents in its capacity as host country to the European institutions, told AFP the five requested visas were granted on Monday afternoon "after a security assessment".
They were just valid for Belgium and not the broader free-movement Schengen area and for one day only, she said.
Belgium declined to disclose the date of the delegation's arrival, citing security reasons, but multiple sources as well as Afghan media reports suggested the talks should take place on Tuesday.
Legal and ethical questions
Brussels and EU countries have denied that hosting Taliban officials is tantamount to recognising the government in Kabul, but critics including leading rights groups say it would renege on the bloc's values.
"EU countries are undermining their credibility by condemning Taliban abuses and pursuing accountability on one hand, while cooperating with the Taliban to forcibly return Afghans on the other," said Fereshta Abbasi of Human Rights Watch.
European governments shut their embassies in Kabul when the Taliban authorities returned to power in 2021 and imposed their strict interpretation of Islamic law.
This month the European Union's migration chief Magnus Brunner defended the outreach, saying Brussels had no other option than to talk to the Taliban government about returning irregular migrants from Afghanistan.
European governments have sought a tougher stance on migration as public opinion has hardened, fuelling far-right electoral gains across the continent.
EU countries received about a million asylum applications filed by Afghans between 2013 and 2024, according to the bloc's data agency. About half as many were approved over the period.
Around 20 of the EU's 27 member states expressed interest in returning some migrants without a right to stay, particularly those with criminal convictions, to Afghanistan in a letter last year.
"The focus for member states is very much on persons who have committed serious crimes or who pose a security threat," commission spokesperson Markus Lammert told journalists on Monday.
Rights groups have questioned the legality and ethics of returning migrants to a country that is in the midst of a severe humanitarian crisis, with millions facing hunger and economic hardship, according to the United Nations.
