Kaag tells America that allies need more time to evacuate from Kabul

NATO allies need more time to evacuate their people from Afghanistan, caretaker foreign minister Sigrid Kaag has said.

Kaag, who last week appealed for American troops to do more, said that European allies had made an urgent request to the U.S. on Tuesday.

‘We are working against the clock,’ she told Dutch media. ‘Our allies have said again to the Americans in the G7 meeting that we are making an urgent request to extend the deadline from 31 August [when American troops are due to withdraw].

‘There will be a lot of people who are not able to fly to the Netherlands, the UK, Germany or France. All US allies need more time.’

Zojuist gesproken met Bondskanselier Angela Merkel over onze nauwe samenwerking in Kaboel t.b.v. de evacuatie-operatie. Daarnaast bespraken we, met oog op G7-bijeenkomst later vandaag, onze gemeenschappelijke inzet op het zo lang mogelijk openhouden van het vliegveld in Kaboel.

— Mark Rutte (@MinPres) August 24, 2021

Meanwhile, caretaker prime minister Mark Rutte announced on Twitter that he had been discussing the evacuation and the ‘common’ commitment to keep Kabul airport open for as long as possible with Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel.

More than 800 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, according to Kaag, and this morning another flight landed at Schiphol from Kabul with 184 people aboard.

Potential asylum seekers in the Netherlands are initially being taken to quarantine for coronavirus reasons in several special shelters.