EU announces 1bn euro aid package for Afghanistan

The bloc’s chief makes the pledge at a G20 summit addressing humanitarian and security situations in Afghanistan.

The European Union has pledged a one-billion-euro ($1.15bn) aid package for Afghanistan, “to avert a major humanitarian and socioeconomic collapse”, the bloc’s chief Ursula von der Leyen has said.

The money adds 250 million euros ($288m) to a 300-million-euro ($346m) sum the EU previously announced for urgent humanitarian needs, with the remainder going to Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries taking in Afghans fleeing Taliban rule, a statement said on Tuesday.

Von der Leyen made the pledge at a virtual G20 summit hosted by Italy dedicated to discussing the humanitarian and security situation in Afghanistan.