EU says it will not rush into recognising the Taliban

FILE PHOTO: Taliban forces patrol near the entrance gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport, a day after U.S troops withdrawal, in Kabul, Afghanistan August 31, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union will need to engage with the Taliban but it will not rush into formally recognising the Islamist militant group as the new rulers of Afghanistan, a senior European Union official said on Wednesday.

Gunnar Wiegand, the European Commission's managing director for Asia and the Pacific, also said the EU executive plans to secure funding of 300 million euros both this year and next to pave the way for resettlement of around 30,000 Afghans.