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Afghanistan Conference group photo in Lancaster House

(© newsteam.co.uk/ Crown Copyright)

The Afghanistan Conference in London has agreed on a comprehensive approach to move forward with the further development of the country.On the road to more Afghan ownership, the conference participants pledged more civilian aid as well as intensified work to develop the Afghan security organs. For its part, the Afghan Government committed to good governance. Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is very happy with the results, and described the Conference outcome as a turning point.

For Foreign Minister Westerwelle, the Conference reached an extremely good result, heralding in the process of a responsible handover to the Afghan Government. As the Foreign Minister outlined, before the end of 2010 responsibility for security in certain provinces is to be transferred to the Afghans, in 2011 German troops are to be gradually withdrawn and from 2014 Afghanistan is itself to be able to guarantee security in the country.

Step by step, security tasks are to be transferred to the Afghan institutions, as outlined in the final document of the London Conference. To this end, efforts to train the Afghan army and police will be stepped up. Germany, too, pledged to bring in more soldiers to train the Afghan army. For this reason the tasks performed by the troops on the ground are to be reorganized on the one hand and on the other 500 more soldiers are to be sent to Afghanistan to help with training.

“I made very clear that stability and democratization are two sides of the one coin”, as Minister Westerwelle emphasized. It is a priority for the Foreign Minister to promote democratic development in the country. He supported in particular calls made by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to focus especially on women’s rights.

German strategy well received

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Hanging Bridge in Sarobi District on the road from Kabul to Dschalalabad

(© picture-alliance/dpa)

“All points of the German strategy found their way into the final document”, Westerwelle pointed out. He believes Germany made a considerable contribution to the success of the Conference which he sees as good news for the people of Germany.

He repeated his warning that no-one can guarantee the new strategy would be successful, but it was clear that the old strategy would not succeed. At the same time he emphasized that the pledges made by the international community are not a blank cheque, but that attention will be paid to ensure the Afghan Government is living up to its pledges.

The final communiqué underscores that the international community is entering into a new phase on the way to full Afghan ownership. The Afghan Government is to be able to better meet the needs of its people by, among other things, developing its own institutions and resources.

Germany’s new strategy

Ahead of the conference, the German Government adopted a new Afghanistan policy. The aim of the efforts is to achieve greater security for Germany by stabilizing Afghanistan in the long term. To this end, assistance for civilian reconstruction will be doubled, while the training of Afghan security forces will be stepped up.

In the run-up to the Conference, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle stressed that the strategy adopted by the Government was “a strategy for a fresh start and a new political approach”.

The shared goal, he went on to say, was to begin the process of handing over responsibility to the Afghans by the end of the year. “Our aim is to devise an exit strategy for our soldiers.” During the next four years, said the Foreign Minister, the prerequisites for this should be created so that the military presence could be gradually reduced.

Westerwelle: Getting everyone on board

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Westerwelle addressing the Press

(© photothek/Th. Imo)

In London, the German Foreign Minister made plain in his speech that a new chapter was to be opened with the Conference. Alongside the Afghan Government and the international community, the international organizations also have to be got on board.

As the Foreign Minister was keen to emphasize, more civilian tools must be used and a broad political approach is needed. He therefore supports President Karzai’s offer of dialogue on the reintegration of moderate Taliban.Broad support from international partners

On the eve of the conference, Westerwelle met some colleagues and outlined the key points of Germany’s strategy. There was agreement on the need to work on an exit strategy. At the start of the Conference, Prime Minister Gordon Brown praised the German Government’s announcement that it will double reconstruction assistance.

Westerwelle had already briefed US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the Federal Government’s new strategy. As he pointed out, “Our allies know how strong Germany’s commitment is”.

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, who visited Germany ahead of the Conference, also reacted “very positively” to the strategy, stressed the Federal Foreign Minister. Similarly, he said, there was “considerable support for Germany’s change in strategy” in the international community. The 27 EU Foreign Ministers shared the German Government’s view on the key points.

Providing moderate Taliban fighters with economic opportunities

A Peace and Reintegration Trust Fund for moderate Taliban was launched at the Conference. Westerwelle underscored, “We want young men who are not ideologists or fundamentalist terrorists to be given an opportunity to reintegrate into Afghan society”. The way had to be paved to enable less committed fighters to earn a livelihood independent of the Taliban so as to win them back for society.

Westerwelle gave an account of what Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai had said about the large number of moderate young Taliban fighters. They often “weren’t fighting for ideological reasons but, rather, because they wanted to earn a living”, Westerwelle said. “We have to get them out. We have to cut the ground from under the hard core terrorists”, emphasized the German Foreign Minister.

Reintegration must hinge on loyalty to the Afghan Constitution. A training and employment package lies at the core of the programme. The financial scope of the programme is as yet unclear. The German Government wants to contribute 50 million euro to the Fund. The programme is to be supervised jointly by the international community and the Afghan Government.