Several European countries are considering reopening their embassies in Afghanistan in a move that would entail diplomatic recognition of the Taliban almost three years after the fall of Kabul, according to people familiar with the matter.

In a sign of potential interest, Italy conducted a reconnaissance mission with its intelligence services in Kabul in the past few weeks, said some of the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive plans. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani confirmed Rome’s ambassador, currently posted to Doha, Qatar, had visited Kabul.

“We are working on it. There has been a mission by our ambassador,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Washington last week. “There are human rights problems. The solution is very complicated; it will take time.”

Western nations, including the US, left Afghanistan after hastily evacuating nationals and security personnel in 2021 as Kabul fell to the Taliban, who had mounted a decades-long insurgency after being toppled from power in 2001. At least 70,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed in the war, according to the Watson Institute at Brown University.

French, German and UK officials, however, said they had no immediate plans to reopen their missions in Kabul.

No European embassy is currently present on the ground, although the European Union has a delegation in the country and the US maintains an interest section at the Qatari representation. The only Group of Seven country with an embassy is Japan.

An EU spokesman said its mission was the only presence from the 27-member bloc so far, but declined to comment on the possible return of individual member states, saying it was a decision for those governments.

The EU’s “presence is calibrated to the policies and actions of the Taliban de facto authorities and does not bestow any legitimacy on it”, according to the website of the bloc’s diplomatic service.

“As soon as there are minimum security conditions, we’ll send our ambassador back,” Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, said in an interview last week. “We were ready a month ago. Unfortunately, three Spaniards were killed by an Isis terrorist attack in Afghanistan.”

Albares added that Spain’s ambassador had moved to Kabul for some days in the wake of the attack. “What we are looking for, because we have an ambassador to Afghanistan, although he lives for security reasons in Doha - as soon as it’s possible, we’ll want him back,” he said.

A senior European diplomat said the view among officials in Brussels had shifted to recognising the necessity of a physical presence in the country to conduct development projects, protect women’s rights, and establish a strategic presence.

In Germany, authorities are publicly debating how to return Afghan asylum seekers who have committed crimes or are convicted terrorists. Currently, such individuals cannot be deported back to the country because Germany has no diplomatic relations with the Taliban regime.

A French official confirmed there were no current plans to reopen the embassy but said that question would need to be addressed eventually. The current situation, with zero presence on the ground, can’t be maintained indefinitely, the person added.

The UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth and Development Office said it would “consider establishing a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan as soon as the security and political situation allows.”

A senior US administration official said the US had no intention of politically recognising the Taliban or re-opening an embassy in Kabul. The official added that the US had been clear with the Taliban that there were still concerns - primarily fair treatment for women and girls - that prevented it from moving in that direction.

  - Bloomberg