The Free Democratic Party and the Green Party demand an extension of the evacuation mission in Kabul

In opposition, calls are being made to the federal government to pressure Washington to extend the deployment of US forces in Kabul to secure evacuations beyond August. “Eviction should take place not according to the calendar, but as necessary. If not everyone is protected by August 31, then an extension after this date would make sense,” said Deputy Leader of the Parliamentary Group of the Free Democratic Party Alexander Graf Lampsdorf WELT. The United States, and that is exactly what Berlin should discuss with Washington.”

Green foreign policy leader Omid Nouripur urged the German government to negotiate with the Americans: “The situation at Kabul airport is very dangerous, the Taliban could storm the airport at any moment,” Nouripur told WELT. That is why the Americans’ plan to finish the evacuation mission as quickly as possible is understandable. But since the evacuations begin too late, Germany will not be able to complete all the rescue flights by August 31st. “It depends more on every day,” the green politician said. “It is therefore urgently necessary for the federal government to work with the US government in Washington to ensure that US forces secure evacuation flights beyond August as possible.”

“The German military is doing almost miraculous things at the moment. We are currently assuming that we will be able to carry out the mission by the end of the month,” said Federal Parliamentarian Johann Wadfull (CDU). “However, this is also not certain. Because the security situation at the moment is very risky. If possible, we will continue the evacuation until the people assigned to us have traveled.”

“We are currently doing everything we can to evacuate people in need of protection as quickly as possible,” said Simtjee Mueller, a defense policy spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group. But it is also clear: “The security and therefore the success of the evacuation procedures depend on the military presence of the United States of America at the airport in Afghanistan. The Germans go alone is excluded.”