Moldovan president takes officials to task over Taliban delegation visit

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has criticised officials over the controversial visit to Chisinau by a delegation from Afghanistan's Ministry of Agriculture representing the Taliban government, saying the incident reflected failures within state institutions.

According to NewsMaker, Sandu said responsibility lay with officials at the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"It is shameful when people holding fairly senior public offices are unfamiliar with the country's policy towards a particular state," she said.

Sandu said the visit was made possible because a state secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture failed to verify Moldova's policy towards Afghanistan's current authorities. She also said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs approved the request without carrying out additional consultations, relying on the signature of a senior official.

"Although the procedure did not require additional consultations, it is strange that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs approved the request. It seems that not everyone reads the country's foreign policy documents," Sandu said.

The controversy follows reports that Moldova initiated the visit after consultations between local agricultural producers and the Ministry of Agriculture on the possibility of providing humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, which is facing a food security crisis.

Earlier, Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tofan acknowledged that allowing a delegation from Afghanistan's Ministry of Agriculture to visit the country had been a political mistake, despite the visitors not being subject to international sanctions or travel bans.

In a Facebook post, Tofan said Moldova does not recognise Taliban rule and attributed the visit to shortcomings in inter-agency co-ordination and political oversight.

By Aghakazim Guliyev