On Sunday, NATO’s Senior Civil Representative in Afghanistan StefanoPontecorvo, emphasised the achievements made by the people of Afghanistanover the past 19 years, and the heavy cost of attaining peace and progressafter a prolonged period of civil strife.
Pontecorvo added that any degree of continued support by internationaldonors will be contingent upon the favourability of the peace negotiationsbetween the Taliban and the Afghan government, stating that there is no wayback for the Taliban to take complete control of the country (as they didtwo decades ago) – inviting them to peacefully become a part of the Afghangovernment.
Pontecorvo stated that “the achievements of the past two decades aremaintained will be valuable. Women’s rights, minorities’ rights andgenerally the human rights and freedom of media are the only way to lead usto a lasting peace”, urging all concerned parties that NATO is fullysupportive to uphold freedom of speech and other fundamental liberties inAfghanistan, threatening that they would not lend their support to anygovernment willing to compromise on those liberties.
He called the Afghan peace talks going on in Qatar as “real”, but admittedthat violence in Afghanistan was at a high level, which he termed asunacceptable – calling upon the Taliban to build trust and decreaseviolence if they are truly concerned over the people of Afghanistan, addingthat “the peace will be a hard process but it would much harder if there isnot trust.”
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More importantly, Pontecorvo commented that the United States and NATO cametogether to Afghanistan, and would subsequently leave together, adding that“it is wrong to say that the U.S leaves here (Afghanistan) and NATOremains”.
