Prime Minister about visit of Afghan delegation: Moldova does not recognize Taliban government. Approving this visit was an error of assessment and institutional coordination

The situation with the delegation from Afghanistan is embarrassing and unacceptable. The Republic of Moldova does not recognize the Taliban government. Approving this visit was an error of assessment and institutional coordination. This message was delivered today by Prime Minister Vasile Tofan, in the context of the visit to Chișinău by a delegation of the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture.

The official explained that the visit was based on a request from a Moldovan company, which has active deliveries to Uzbekistan and requested support to expand agricultural exports to Afghanistan.

“These exports are not prohibited by the European Union sanctions regime, which targets designated persons and entities, and does not target agricultural trade with Afghanistan as a whole. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry submitted a request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the General Inspectorate for Migration (GIM) and the Border Police. The persons did not appear on sanctions lists, the GIM issued a positive opinion, and the MFA issued the visas. Consulting the Intelligence and Security Service (ISS) was not mandatory, therefore the institution was not notified,” said Vasile Tofan.

The Prime Minister emphasized that, in this case, the procedure was followed only formally, without the necessary political and diplomatic assessment, which led to the approval of a “wrong decision.”

“An obviously sensitive case was treated as a routine administrative file. The result was a wrong decision. State mechanisms cannot be reduced to simply ticking boxes. Institutions must understand the context, the risks, and the consequences of the decisions they make. I understand the public pressure for resignations. The easy way is to identify a ‘scapegoat’ and declare the subject closed. The responsible way is to clearly establish accountability and to correct the mechanism that allowed this situation, through clearer rules and mandatory coordination at the political and diplomatic level. Likewise, we will revise the ISS consultation mechanism. All decision-makers in public institutions must understand their individual role when they sign a document or approve a decision. We are not administering paperwork, we are administering a country, and we must be more careful when we make decisions,” noted Vasile Tofan.

A delegation of the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture paid a visit to Chișinău in the context of discussions on possible humanitarian exports of agricultural products. The MFA announced that “the delegation is not subject to international sanctions” and that “our country strictly complies with international sanctions regimes and does not recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan.”

The MFA specified that, during the visit, “there will be no bilateral meetings or official contacts with the representatives of the delegation.” The institution also mentioned that “the Government has ordered verification of how the invitation and visas were issued, as well as a review of internal procedures.”