Germany in Afghanistan

DEUTSCHE WELLE: What is the current situation regarding the efforts to release the German hostage in Afghanistan?

Gernot Erler: Unfortunately I can't give you any good news: the efforts of the emergency task force in cooperation with the Afghan authorities continue. We hope for a positive conclusion soon.

You said in another interview that the contact to the hostage-takers was indirect. What does that mean?

It's been public knowledge for some time that the direct contact is being cultivated above all by the Afghan government.

In recent weeks, people have gotten the impression that the German government has abandoned its stance. To what extent is that the case?

It is rather a reaction to the Taliban's approach. We are increasingly seeing that attempts are being made here to influence the discussion in Western countries through disinformation campaigns, in Germany, too, in relation to the Afghanistan mission. We had to respond to that. We have to correct false reports for example.

Is there a debate within the federal government about how to deal with the kidnappings?

There is no difference between the chancellery's and the foreign ministry's outlooks regarding approach. The confusion emerged because the foreign ministry and the foreign minister had to respond to the disinformation attempts that came from the Taliban.

Is there a debate within the governing coalition about how one should in general deal with the kidnappings and ransom demands?

This public debate cannot be averted. It crops up, but it can't bring us any further. Every sort of explanation, as is usually given, potentially brings copy-cat criminals to life. That's why it's clear that we have to stick with a case-by-case treatment here. That's why the federal government is also not getting involved in this public debate about ransom payments.

Foreign Minister Steinmeier said he could imagine extending the deployment in Afghanistan. Is that also a reaction to the hostage-taking in Afghanistan?

I think it's important that there's a change in the orientation of our public discussion. Away from the question of what may possibly have the basis for a consensus in the German Bundestag to the question: How can one make the Western world's mission in Afghanistan a genuine success? There were several worrying developments here over the last two years. In this context, one always returns to the conclusion that there's a backlog demand when it comes to training the Afghan army, but also the police.

The EU already responded with its new police-training mission in Afghanistan. We're now considering whether, within the framework of what is doable, we can do more toward training the Afghan army. That is truly a contribution toward making the situation better on the ground, without any tactical ulterior motives.

Extending the mission doesn't necessarily mean deploying more battle troops, but it does at least mean more German soldiers or police will be in Afghanistan?


To start with, the issue is expanding the mandate. Whether that will have to involve a change to the upper limit -- that still has to be examined. It's also conceivable that with a different division of tasks we can do more for training the Afghan army within the realm of the current upper limit, but for that, conclusive examinations must be completed.

The debate was intense about whether German troops should also be deployed to the Afghanistan's volatile south. Now one gets the sense from certain comments that it is at least conceivable.

It's at least conceivable that in resolving the question of how training can truly be noticeably improved such geographical restrictions may have to be deemed less important than they have been so far. But that, too, is still speculative, since details must first be resolved as to the how the training can be most effectively strengthened.

Jens Thurau interviewed Gernot Erler (ncy).