August 25, local time, the German Bundestag officially voted to approve the withdrawal of the Bundeswehr in Afghanistan.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the government’s slow response to the withdrawal in the Bundestag, saying it was a difficult decision: “If Germany not only withdraws its troops in the spring, but also evacuates local workers, the Afghan people will accuse us of abandoning them.” Merkel announced that the Bundeswehr’s withdrawal in Afghanistan would now end “within days”, but that did not mean that local Afghan workers who had not been evacuated would not be protected, and Germany was working towards that goal.
Ms Merkel again acknowledged that there had been a miscalculation of the situation in Afghanistan, but that it was time to “go all out” for the withdrawal: “The reality is painful and our goal is to preserve as much as possible the changes we have brought to Afghanistan over the past 20 years.” ”
So far, the Bundeswehr has withdrawn more than 4,600 people from Afghanistan, nearly half of them women. Faced with a thorny refugee problem, the German government and ruling party say they will evacuate some Afghans in dire need of help, but at the same time learn from the 2015 refugee crisis and provide the necessary help to prevent a return of large numbers of refugees to Europe.
