Paulo Portas, a former minister of defense and foreign affairs, believes the Taliban’s offensive in Afghanistan is more than predictable and will have a huge wave of Afghan refugees. According to the former leader of the CDS, Europe faces an almost unprecedented political and social challenge.
“We may have a refugee crisis on our doorstep,” Paulo Portas warned in his usual comment on TVI, not hiding his concerns about the combined impact of three factors: the role Turkey played in previous refugee crises; historical difficulties in relations between the Erdogan regime and the European Union; and the absence of a leader like Angela Merkel, especially in the electoral atmosphere in Germany.
The former deputy prime minister also lamented the “absolutely unstoppable” and “horrific” offensive by a “political, religious and extremist organization on a state that never existed.”
Even arguing that the invasion of Afghanistan had clear advantages in catching bin Laden and stopping al-Qaeda exports, Paulo Portas admitted that the operation had failed in two structural ways.
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“It did not change the character of the Afghan state, nor did it affect the capabilities of its security forces or the patriotism of its political elites.”
Finally, Portas pointed the finger at Western powers, in particular Donald Trump, who signed controversial agreement with the Taliban. “Only he must have believed,” he joked.
